


Second Life Syndrome

by EratoTiaTuatha



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 99 percent of this isn't confirmed, Angst, Ardyn backstory, Come on, Fluff, Gen, Healer!Ardyn, Multi, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Umbra time travel mechanics, and is probably wrong, around canon?, basically it starts out fluffy and fun and then everything goes to shit, but Healer!Ardyn guys, it's Ardyn's backstory what did you expect, lots of speculation about lore, post-FFXV ending, sorry - Freeform, technically AU, the Healer of Lucis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-14 12:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 57,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9181531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EratoTiaTuatha/pseuds/EratoTiaTuatha
Summary: The King of Kings is dead, and so is the Accursed. That's how it begins.





	1. After

**Author's Note:**

> I have such a mighty need of more Ardyn, especially pre-Scourge Ardyn. I decided to go for it and try whipping up a fic of my own. Hope you enjoy and it brings you Ardyn feels. I am eventually going for some form of redemption for him but it won't be soon or overly happy... Basically expect angst.  
> Chapter and work title from Riverside's Second Life Syndrome album. Trend will probably continue...  
> The first one's extremely short but only because I wanted it to end at this particular spot. Future chapters will be longer, and should come very soon. Tell me what you think!

Noctis felt himself shatter in a detached sort of way. There was no pain, but the sensation was physical and all he could say about it was that it felt immensely odd. He found himself in absolute darkness. There did seem to be some sort of ground under his feet though he could not see it. He only had a few seconds to question his whereabouts when the familiar patter of clawed feet drew his attention. He raised his head to see Umbra casually trotting his way. He had known for a long time that the shiba was no ordinary animal so he didn't seem out of place in the odd darkness. Noct was about to bend down and pet his longtime friend when the dog ran past him, paying him no mind. Before the King had a moment to react a voice broke the silence where Umbra seemed to be headed.

"What an odd pleasure! Welcome, furry friend, my name is Ardyn."

Noctis turned sharply only to see the Accursed in the middle of one of his graceful bows.

"And who might you be, little one?" the man questioned, straightening with a pleasant smile on his face. 

It was at that point Noct felt he lost it. Thanks to the surprise all the years that had changed him seemed to fall away momentarily and he reverted to his most instinctual reaction.

"Are you kidding me?" he muttered, raising an eyebrow. Ardyn threw him an aknowledging look, seemingly not at all surprised to see him, but kept his focus on the dog. For lack of a better idea, Noct came closer to the two and laid his hand on the dog's head. "His name is Umbra." he explained reluctantly. Ardyn's face seemed to light up as he bent down again. Noct was half-expecting another bow but instead the man stayed down, looking the dog in the face.

"Umbra, right? It is nice to meet you." He offered a hand which the shiba sniffed in greeting. "Is he your dog?" he asked, finally turning his attention to Noctis as he straightened.

"Used to be, at least" King or not, he couldn't keep the grumble out of his voice. He'd never question Umbra's loyalty for real, but it hurt his pride to be ignored first thing in the Afterlife. Ardyn chuckled softly.

"Curious to see him here, wouldn't you think?" he asked conversationally. Noctis finally snapped out of the first shock of the situation, regaining some of his balance.

"Not at all." he straightened all the way, only in passing noticing how Umbra was looking from one of them to the other. "Is this the Afterlife?" that brought on less than pleasant questions of whether he and Ardyn were to spend the rest of eternity with nothing but each other and a dog to keep them company in the darkness.

"I wouldn't know." Ardyn hummed thoughtfully "I was never able to make it to this side, you see."

Something in his choice of words gave Noctis pause and he narrowed his eyes. He chose not to ask, aware of what the answer would likely be. Another bout of sound drew both their attentions back to the dog. Umbra was pacing restlessly, obviously wanting them to follow him. Noctis moved in front of his dog and held out his hand. He knew what that meant. A small paw was placed in his palm.

"Oh dear, is he alright?" Ardyn's voice was back to its usual place in the uncanny valley, right between genuine concern and mockery. The King was years past taking the bait.

"He wants us to come with him." he informed. There was an aborted sound as the Accursed started to say something and fell silent for a few seconds.

"So that's how you found us." he looked at Umbra with new curiosity "Now I feel like I made a fool of myself with that introduction, Messenger." That gave Noctis pause.

"You knew him?" he demanded.

"Oh but of course! He's an old buddy of mine." Ardyn's smile was smug this time, or more smug than it usually was. The King was pretty sure he knew the answer but decided to ask anyway, hoping for some elaboration on the other man's part.

"How did you not recognize him then?" He shouldn't have hoped. Ardyn tilted his head mockingly.

"Oh Noct, it gets rather tiresome to spend two thousand years with the same face. Trust me, I would know." Noctis was stuck somewhere between his recently found pity for the Accursed and the old familiar irritation. If Ardyn saw that, which Noct had no doubt he did, he didn't comment on it. Instead he bent down next to the King and locked his eyes with Umbra's. "Let us see where you want to lead us, Atra."

Noct's questioning "Atra?" died on his lips as they were transported and suddenly he found himself with his hand placed upon the chest of a tall raven-black chocobo instead of holding a small dog's paw. Next to him Ardyn's eyes went wide in what could only be abject horror.

"No... No! Why?" he half-gasped and half-screamed in anguish. Before Noctis could make any sense of the situation the world around him dissolved completely.


	2. Through the Other Side

The King woke slowly, feeling soft feathers tickling his face. He scrunched his nose and let out a small, incoherent grumble.

"Krrreh?" the chocobo chirped questioningly. Noctis felt its soft beak gently touching his cheek.

"Five more minutes, girl" he mumbled swatting at the beak weakly. He heard a rustle of clothes and someone's steps, undoubtedly one of the guys coming to force him to get up. He didn't stir.

"You've woken!" the voice was startlingly familiar and Noct's eyes flew open. Ardyn.

The King struggled to sit up as everything that had happened came back to him in a rush of memory. Ardyn had kneeled next to him and was reaching out towards his face, and that proved too much. Noctis drew back sharply, distantly aware that he was pretty sure he'd gotten over this revulsion a while before. The hand was drawn back but stayed outstretched towards him as a momentary flash of shock was replaced by what looked like friendly reassurance. Noct decided it was time to start feeling bad about where this was going.

"I'm sorry, my friend. You must be confused. How are you feeling?" the King stared at him in disbelief for a moment, apparently a moment too long.

"Are you in pain? Do you remember where you are?" Ardyn followed up with simpler questions. Noct shook his head slowly, still observing the other with suspicion.

"I'm okay" he managed to force out. The Accursed seemed elated to hear it.

"Good, good, I must admit I feared for you." he replied quickly, then sat back on the grass, not too close and not too far from Noctis. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked impatiently. Noct thought about it for a moment. Something was definitely off about the situation but he had no idea what it was yet. He deemed it a bad idea to start talking about being transported in time right away. At least not until he knew a little more.

"I'm... not sure." Ardyn gave him a worried look at that. It was unnerving, Noctis knew all those expressions, saw them on Ardyn many times but they'd never been so open, so... honest?

"Ah, in that case I feel I owe you an explanation before I offer my apology." Noct bit his tongue before he even figured out what he wanted to say. It wasn't the time. Instead he just tilted his head a little and listened. "You see, I was out on a ride and I fear I got lost in thought. I honestly do not know where you came from, but when I looked you were right in front of my steed. I stopped him immediately but feared I was too late and you had gotten hurt." The younger man had no answer to that, instead staring dumbly. He knew what it seemed like but was reluctant to let himself draw the inevitable conclusions.

"Like I said, I'm fine." he repeated uselessly.

"Nevertheless, my irresponsibility put you in harm's way." Before the King could react in any way Ardyn bowed deeply. "I beg your forgiveness, friend."

"There really is no need, but if it eases your mind, you have it." for some reason Noctis felt it appropriate to adapt a more regal tone. Maybe he was just getting over the shock, he thought, as he had to admit he'd gotten rather kingly over the past few years. Or, future few years, he supposed.

"Thank you!" the Accursed exclaimed with enthusiasm that seemed genuine. As Noct pondered that in silence the man continued. "I believe it is high time I introduced myself" a shudder of recognition went through Noctis at the familiar phrase. "My name is Ardyn, at your humble service."

"Noctis Lucis Caelum" the King immediately regretted saying his full name, for the first time cursing his newfound manners. He cringed inwardly at the look he got from Ardyn.

"Cousin Noctis? By the Six, what are you doing here?" the surprise melted seamlessly into joy. If there ever was a time when Noct had no idea what to say, it was now.

"Cousin??" he demanded more than a little too loudly. Ardyn laughed.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? Ardyn Lucis Caelum is my full name." the man winked playfully at Noctis. "And never did I expect to literally run into my cousin before we had a chance to meet officially!" he chuckled at his own joke.

"Neither did I, to be honest." Noct played along seamlessly thanks to an instinct he'd developed after years of coming unprepared to his father's political meetings. "If only I knew how I got here." he lied.

"Oh dear, you did not lose your memory, did you?" there it was again, the genuine concern in his former nemesis' amber eyes.

"Not fully, at least." without even being fully conscious of it happening Noct ran through all the facts he had and a few scenarios in his head and decided on a version of the story he'd stick to. He could only hope he'd be able to convincingly fake whatever relative Ardyn took him for. "Cousin" wasn't much to work on, as it didn't specify what connected them.

"Good." Ardyn breathed what had to be a sigh of relief. "I believe figuring out what's happened can wait until we are safely back to civilization. Come." He got up and extended his hand to Noct, who suppressed the reflex to look at it like he saw a chocobo ride a car. The Accursed, or whoever he might be at this point in time, pulled him up effortlessly.

It was only then that Noctis turned around to look at the bird who had woken him up. Since he had more shocking revelations to deal with until this point it was with some surprise that he noted it wasn't his chocobo but a black one. Reminded of what happened while they were being transported he surmised he was looking at Umbra. This made it easier to smile and offer the curious animal a scratch on the neck.

"Hello."

"Krrr.... Kweh!" Umbra tilted his head and chirped in greeting.

"Wouldn't you know, he seems to like you!" Ardyn pointed out sounding mildly surprised. "He's rather... picky when it comes to companions." he elaborated to Noctis' questioning look.

"I can imagine." Noct couldn't help but chuckle. He did know how Umbra could be with people.

"Now, do you think you're up for climbing the saddle now?" Ardyn's voice behind him shook him from the sudden rush of memories.

"What?" he asked in a rather undignified manner. To his further surprise, Ardyn seemed apologetic about the suggestion.

"I am sorry, I wasn't insinuating anything, merely making sure your current health permits..." That wasn't the answer to the question Noctis asked at all.

"No, no... it's not a problem and I do feel perfectly fine." 'as I said twice already', he didn't add. "It's your chocobo, though."

"Don't be silly, cousin." the other man replied with a frown "What host would I be, especially after the treatment I welcomed you with, to have you walk all the way back?" This was turning into one of those ridiculous 'no, after YOU' arguments that Noct was sick of by the time he turned five. He groaned inwardly.

"How far is it, anyway?"

"Merely a half hour walk if we take the short route." provided Ardyn.

"I suppose we can change places halfway?" Noctis suggested. His companion grinned and bowed with a flourish.

"After you, then."

Noctis jumped into the saddle with practiced grace. As soon as he confirmed his guest wasn't going to faint and fall off Ardyn turned away and started walking, his steed following him closely. Suddenly Noct was reminded of Gladio. Yes, that was the brisk, tireless stride of a man used to walking long distances. Just another surprise to add to the list, he supposed. He continued to watch Ardyn silently for the next few minutes as they followed a narrow dust road, then turned away from it and into a sparse, well-lit forest. Now that he wasn't pressed to wrap his head around the situation and deal with conversation, he was able to take a good look at the Accursed.

He looked younger, Noctis supposed, but it was unclear just how much younger. Ardyn did have that ageless aura that made it difficult to judge how old he was. Apparently, it was something he was born with. The clothes were different, too. The man wore similar pants to what Noct had seen on him before, his boots were black and reinforced with decorative steel elements, and he wore a long ivory shirt with a dark grey coat on top. Overall everything was similar, but also different. It was sort of like seeing musicians from a faraway country, their attires were similar enough to what you'd encounter within Insomnia but somehow also fundamentally different. Noct had found through his travels that common, everyday clothes were much more similar wherever you went, but fashion trends always betrayed where you came from. There definitely was this unidentifiable exotic air to Ardyn's attire.

That reminded Noctis that he hadn't had a look at himself yet either. He checked to find that he was wearing his royal outfit, thankfully without full insignia. It was probably lucky that he hadn't tried to play commoner, then.

He only shook out of his reverie when the trees around them gave way to a grassland with a towering stone wall at its opposite end. It definitely wasn't a full fifteen minutes away, he realized.

"You weren't going to remind me about the switch, were you?" he asked.

"Oh? I must apologize, but I must have gotten lost in my thoughts again." the voice sounded genuine, as it always did, but Noct could see the smirk on the other man's face. He snorted quietly.

"You're quite easily distracted." he pointed out. Ardyn laughed at that.

"That I am, my friend. That I am."

There was something endearingly honest about the way he said it, a little self-deprecating but just confident enough. A bit like how Prompto would occasionally act, if Prompto had royal manners and speech patterns. Noct hummed quietly to himself, deciding to remember that observation for later reference.

"It's not far now, only a short ways beyond the walls. Trust me, cousin, it would be more trouble than it is worth to switch places now."

"I bet it would." Noctis unintentionally slipped into familiar banter before suddenly remembering who he was talking to. He was beyond confused about the whole situation and blamed that for this error. Ardyn didn't seem to mind.

"I'm glad you see the wisdom in my words." he said with a wink.

"How could I not?" Noct took a second too long to reply, but ultimately decided to stick to the same tone he used before so as not to draw unnecessary attention.

"Indeed... Say Noctis, are you looking forward to seeing the city at last?" he asked conversationally.

"Of course I am." Noct bluffed and hoped he sounded convincing. He was curious, after all. His curiosity was drastically different from the anticipation one feels when entering a city they heard much about, though.

Ardyn looked like he would've liked to continue the conversation, but they made it to the enormous iron gate flanked with stone columns higher than the rest of the wall. The design was geometric, simple yet elegant and reminded Noctis of the old tombs he had visited. Maybe he would finally see what the rest of that culture's architecture looked like. Seeing them approach two guards snapped to attention.

"Welcome back, Prince." they greeted in unison. For a second Noct took it for granted, apprehensive but used to being called that wherever he went. With a start he remembered he was no prince here, and looked at Ardyn who was smiling sheepishly. Well, it definitely would fit the story. The gate was opened and the two travelers crossed it, entering the city beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. I'm really getting into this, actually, so I hope it won't be long before the next chapter.  
> By the way, the thing with Noctis being reminded of each of his friends in turn wasn't intentional. I was just writing Ardyn, minding my own business, when Noct was like "I KNO DIS!" ;)  
> As always, comments are my sustenance so plz, save a life, leave a comment ;)


	3. Beyond the Eyelids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis follows Ardyn through the gates and into the city that is unlike anything he'd seen, and exactly the same.

Whatever the King was expecting to see beyond the gate, this wasn't it. What awaited him within the stone wall was like an incredibly elaborate set from a fantasy movie. Or a science fiction one, he could not tell. The city was rather sparse, its buildings relatively short and spaced a good distance from each other. All of them were in that same geometric style he recognized from the tombs. The buildings were well kept despite carrying signs of damage and the roads wide, accommodating different lanes for vehicles, chocobos and pedestrians. Instead of the order he was used to though, those lanes were arranged in different configurations, often intersecting and snaking around each other. It seemed chaotic at first, but as they made their way through the city Noctis realized the vehicle lanes were the straightest, hardly ever straying from the ground. The lanes for birds, seemingly divided between carriages and riders slipped through the city in gentle curves, often lifted above ground to smoothly glide above other roads, patches of greenery or even short buildings. They were following one of those despite Ardyn still moving on foot. The center stage belonged to walkways that seemed to meander endlessly and only rarely touch the ground. It seemed counter-intuitive at first but the more he looked at the moving traffic the more Noct realized there was logic to it, as odd as it was.

"You said it would only take half an hour" he pointed out.

"And wasn't I right? We were half an hour from the city, cousin." Ardyn replied without missing a beat. Noctis couldn't help but sigh.

"It sounded more like half an hour from our destination..."

"Nonsense! I said 'civilization', I vividly remember that!" the man sounded like he was having some trouble keeping himself from laughing.

Noctis decided that enough was enough and tried stopping the chocobo. It had little effect beside the bird throwing him a short, disapproving look. Apparently he wasn't about to get even a step away from his master. Without hesitation Noct simply jumped off, the sound of his shoes hitting the ground making Ardyn turn around sharply.

"What is that?" he questioned.

"If you're not going to switch, we will both walk." Noctis replied with an air of finality. The other man chuckled.

"Seeing as you're able to make demands I suppose you are well enough for that..." It still felt extremely weird to casually converse with his former greatest enemy but at least now Noctis was getting a lot better at suppressing the feeling. He sighed good-naturedly and kept on walking.

The odd city drew his gaze like a magnet and he took the sights in as much as he could. It took him a while to realize the background noise behind the usual city sounds was actually familiar and it frightened him. Magitek. Now that he looked closer he noticed the vehicles passing below were actually hovering just above ground and were accompanied by a faint red glow which was nearly invisible in the bright light of the day. It took him a long moment before he was able to tear his eyes away from those and he moved to surveying the carriages on a lane close to them. Some were elegant, others simple, but some yet seemed to be made of those same vehicles he saw driving around. They had apparently been outfitted with wheels, however. It looked all kinds of odd to see those learge metal machines dragged around by fours and sixes of chocobos.

A look at the sky brought another thing to his attention. All through the city there were enormous pillars made of metal and stone. Their purpose would've been a mystery to Noctis if it weren't for the fact that a few of them were still connected by heavy duty metal wires. Some form of transportation, then. He wondered why they were abandoned.

At last, Noct's gaze fell one one of the many sculptures lining the streets and incorporated into buildings.

He knew this.

He drove past it on his way to school for years.

Insomnia?

He itched to ask Ardyn about it but knew he couldn't, not with his cover as his cousin to maintain.

Speaking of that, he wondered just how convenient it was that there was such a cousin. He recalled being told about the information on Ardyn his friends managed to uncover and came up empty. He raked his memory for any mention of his name having been used before in his family, and there was nothing. Of course the mysterious cousin could've just been lost to history, having never been a person of much influence. In fact, Ardyn himself was forgotten quite thoroughly and he had made some ripples in his time.

But then another thought occurred to Noctis. Whenever he'd used Umbra's ability to travel in time, he'd never had to worry about accidentally messing things up. There was never any space-time continuum he had to keep safe, no butterfly effect ruining his reality. Noct was never big on advanced physics but he supposed that meant he was somehow protected from such an occurrence. In all the high-budget CGI flicks he'd seen in his life he'd never seen one that involved such careless time travel. Perhaps Umbra, however he did what he did, was the one to place the role of a convenient cousin for Noctis to fill. It made sense, he supposed. It seemed to make sense to his uneducated mind, his inner Ignis chastised.

"The city is indeed beautiful" he pointed out after suddenly deciding he'd rather not dwell on his thoughts. Shockingly, Ardyn laughed bitterly at that. Noctis stared at him, realizing that it was the first real show of any negative emotion he'd seen from Ardyn since waking up here. The man caught his eye and shrugged.

"It's a ruin, cousin. We do what we can to keep it afloat but it's a lost fight I'm afraid." the Accursed explained. Noct wondered wildly what an appropriate response to that would be and found he had no idea. Reflexively he shrugged as well.

"I'm sure it will be a victory in the end." he offered, thinking about the city he grew up in. If this was indeed the same city.

"Thank you." Ardyn's voice was surprisingly solemn and honest. "It's a struggle. We can't possibly keep up with how fast civilization is slipping from our grasp." he shook his head and looked straight at Noctis. "What about yours, cousin? How is the fair land of Altissima faring?" Noct barely stopped himself from gaping. Altissima? Did he mean Altissia? Along with the cofusion came memories of how he left that city and just what he buried with it. All he could do was shake his head slowly and make what he hoped would pass as a noncommittal sound.

"Oh..." Now the silk-smooth voice of his companion broke and it was the most uncharacteristic thing Noctis had seen from the man so far. "I am so sorry for bringing this up, friend. Let us change the subject immediately."

"Thanks." Noct was barely able to choke out. He supposed he was grateful for the offer since thoughts of Altissia would still suck him into a rabbit hole of misery whenever he entertained them. But he was also gripped by irrational fear for the city hearing Ardyn's understanding of why there would be nothing happy to say on the matter. He tried to remind himself he was in the past either way and whatever was happening there was already long past. It did not work.

"Look at that, we've finally reached our destination. It was merely a brief walk, just as I had assured you." Ardyn smoothly changed the subject and Noctis raised his head to see the grand building that came into view.

It was a tower built upon a wide, box-shaped foundation only a few floors tall. The tower itself reached a good hundred floors and resembled an enormous lighthouse. Besides that it stirred no recognition in Noctis, but the lower part of the building... It was different, younger by centuries of renovations and additions but it was unmistakably the Citadel.

When Ardyn whipped around to look at him Noctis was actually choking on a surprise coughing fit. There was only so much weirdness he could take in one day, apparently. Another thing he never would've expected to happen, a large warm hand was placed reassuringly on his back. He stared while trying to regain control over his breathing. The hand was withdrawn with only a small smile to serve as explanation. They both resumed walking.

The bird was getting restless and starting to gently push them forward. It wasn't long before the path they were following circled down and touched the ground near the side of the grand building. So, there had been stables there once after all, Noctis thought. The chocobo pushed around them and trotted towards the sound of its brethren before stopping and urging them on with a screech and a look that must've been his version of a pout despite the fact that he had a beak. Next to Noct Ardyn chuckled.

"It's alright Atra, I need to take care of our guest here. Now be a good boy and run along, I will visit you yet."

To that the huge chocobo chirped quietly and reluctantly resumed its trot. As Ardyn led Noctis towards a nearby side entrance a servant caught up to them.

"Your Highness." he started politely to draw Ardyn's attention. The man smiled politely.

"Ah, good to see you Daryl. If you would, Atra requires some water and a good rest. Make sure to only give him a light snack, I will come by later and take care of the rest."

"Of course, your Highness!" the servant bowed deeply and hurried away. Noctis had a moment to wonder about the Accursed apparently refusing to let the Citadel staff assume full responsibility for the wellbeing of his chocobo. He supposed it had something to do with the identity of said bird. Not many people would take their eyes for too long off the Messenger. That never stopped him for allowing the staff to feed Umbra, though. The moment where Ardyn was busy with maneuvering him through a crowd of eager staff members was over and Noct found himself in a spacious and luxuriously furnished suite.

"You should find everything you need here and if not, please do not hesitate to ask someone. They should be around." The man waved his hand as if he genuinely wasn't sure if the staff even had a physical form that could reside in one place. Noctis supposed he knew the feeling. "It would be my pleasure if you wished to join me for dinner today." he offered with a warm smile. One thing Noct was definitely not confused about at the moment was the fact that he was hungry so he accepted immediately. "Splendid!"

Ardyn seemed ready to leave, but hovered uncertainly near the door.

"Is there something else?" Noctis asked.

"I should leave you to your rest, cousin."

"Not at all. I'm not even tired." All the politeness was really starting to wear him down. Still, Ardyn's eyes seemed to light up at that.

"In that case, would you mind me keeping you company for a while yet? I have so much to ask you." Noct was just about to ignore his still-present apprehension towards the Accursed when he heard the last part. He must've been unable to fully suppress the cringe. "Do not worry, I have no desire to pester you with any unpleasantness. I've done enough of that today." Ardyn was quick to assure. Noct wouldn't be able to prepare for the eventual questions anyway so he decided to take the risk.

"Sure. Ask away."

At that Ardyn moved towards the gigantic bed and motioned for Noctis to follow. They ended up sitting comfortably a small distance from each other, facing a window beyond which they could observe the endless traffic. Noct looked at his companion expectantly only to see Ardyn close his eyes and sigh contentedly.

"It is so good to meet you, cousin. I hope my antics haven't made you think otherwise." he said turning his golden eyes to Noctis.

"No. I'm... glad to meet you too." And it was true, Noct thought, because he had longed to meet the man his nemesis used to be since he'd had time to think about his story. Still, the perspective of pretending to be an estranged relative was daunting. In an attempt to delay the inevitable he decided to change the subject. "So, your chocobo... He's a unique one, isn't he?"

"He is to me, at least" Ardyn laughed. "You see, I was there when he was born and we seem to have been stuck together since." he explained a little sheepishly. "He was pretty weak, you see, back when he was a hatchling. Born with a crooked beak and thus had trouble feeding on his own, poor thing." Noct couldn't help but smile.

"I have a dog myself." he said in an attempt to sympathize.

"Wonderful! May I inquire what its name is?"

"...Umbra. He's called Umbra."

"I see" Ardyn sighed, closing his eyes for a few seconds again while Noctis wondered what on all of Eos could've turned this kind soul into the spiteful monster he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Some clarification on headcanons in this chapter.  
> As for the state of civilization at the moment, I decided against going with the old-timey theme most people seem to follow. The reason for it is, we do know that Solheim was a technologically advanced culture. Any civilization built on the ashes of that would have much more of a post-apo vibe than a 'just figuring this out for the first time' one. Think about the ending of the game and how civilization would have to rebuild after that. They'd have to figure a lot of things anew, sure, but they'd be working with their legacy as well.  
> Also headcanon: Ardyn is lonely as heck. He's a wild soul not very fit for the confines of royalty, much like Noct was, but unlike Noctis he doesn't have the support network of close friends. If it weren't for his responsibility to the Throne he'd probably run away and be a wandering poet or sth...  
> I kind of thought Izunia would be in this one, but the boys took their sweet time on their walk. Noct had a lot to think about, as you could expect.  
> By the way, you can see him slowly settling into one speech pattern at last instead of constantly switching between his 'King' and '20yr old nerd' personas. Don't blame him for taking so long, that sort of happens when you have the rug pulled from under your feet so many times in a row. That, and concussions.


	4. Artificial Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reunion of all the Caelum offspring of our generation... An occasion to be celebrated, no doubt.

"So, how about you tell me about the city?" Despite having agreed to being on the receiving end of questions Noctis was desperate to put that off as long as possible. "You said you were having trouble with it..." he felt a bit guilty for pushing that subject, but Ardyn looked like he wanted to vent.

"Well, you've seen how it is. It isn't easy having to deal with suddenly losing all of technology." Ardyn sighed. "There is just no way to keep up with it. We focus on dealing with this in the long term, hence the... less than stellar state of the city. Procuring supplies and replacing the most vulnerable of structures are our main priority."

"'Our'? Who exactly deals with all this?" This felt like a safe question for a cousin to ask, Noct hoped.

"Me and mother, mostly. Father is off leading a small scouting group tasked with gathering whatever we might be able to use more often than not. And cousin Izunia, well... He rather enjoys the Citadel." Noctis was trying to quickly piece together as much information as possible, but the mention of that name brought his thoughts to a screeching halt.

"Izunia?" he couldn't help but ask. Ardyn smiled, though it was with some difficult to identify mix of emotions.

"Yes... You haven't met him either, have you?"

"I haven't had the pleasure." Noct improvised.

"It is truly unfortunate what happened to his family, don't you think?" Ardyn looked genuinely sorry but again, Noctis couldn't shake the feeling there was something more to that picture he wasn't seeing. Not to mention, his skills at pretending he knew who he was talking about came in handy once more.

"Very sad." he risked. His companion nodded thoughtfully.

"At any rate, you will probably meet him soon. Who knew, a reunion of all the Caelum offspring of our generation..." at that he chuckled lightly, apparently amused. "An occasion to be celebrated, no doubt." Noct smiled, trying to blend in, but then attempted to direct the conversation somewhere safer once more.

"You're using magitek." He was going to phrase it more delicately, but the best he could do to avoid it sounding like an accusation was something of a statement. It must've fit whatever Ardyn expected of him, however, because the man nodded solemnly.

"What little we still have. It is a sore subject between me and the Queen, I'm afraid."

"Which side are you on?" Noctis ventured carefully. The other man gave him an appraising look, as if debating whether to disclose that.

"I believe we should make use of whatever we have available. Our situation is desperate enough as is." he paused, and Noct was getting ready to ask another question when Ardyn continued. "Mother is against it, says if this is what brought down the Empire it is our duty to abandon it altogether. An idealistic notion, if you ask me. If it weren't for the scant magitek salvage we still have we'd be starving and unable to do any restoration to the city." he sighed. "Frankly, the only reason she tolerates it is because our grandfather thought it necessary. I am afraid I do not possess nearly enough power to sway her myself." Ardyn finished, smiling in a self-deprecating sort of way. Finally, some pieces were starting to fall together.

"Our grandfather favored the use of magitek?" Noct risked asking.

"Obviously. After all, he was the one to found our beautiful Insomnia on the ruins of Imperial City Quiesco." the man said it like an inspired tour guide, sweeping his hand at the view beyond the window. Out there, endless lines of traffic moved in a slow but steady rhythm. 

"Still, I guess your mother has a point." Again, that earned him a look that said Ardyn thought he was risking a lot by responding. Eventually though, he did.

"It's easy to be pious and heed our gods' call from the Citadel, friend. But what did our people do to deserve this fate? It was never their war, never their transgressions. The punishment deserved by us of royal blood never should have touched them so. And yet most of those people are dead, and those who survive are left without any of the devices the devoted minds of scientists had developed to ease their lives. And still we stand tall, protected by our blood and only mildly inconvenienced by the circumstances." Ardyn stopped abruptly, realizing he got carried away. "I simply cannot let them suffer even more." he finished quietly. Noctis was at an absolute loss for words and was only able to stare at his would-be enemy. Suddenly he thought of the world the way he left it in the present. So many dead and so much in ruin. Left to piece their lives together in the ashes, would the people be alright? And yet he'd never questioned that. He'd had trouble accepting his destiny, yes, but between the time he awoke and the end he had no time to really consider what had happened to the world. And here was Ardyn, of all people, willing to defy the gods to keep his people safe. Noct knew he'd have to think on that.

"Look at me, pestering you with all these troublesome thoughts when I promised I would not!" Ardyn announced suddenly. There was no trace of the previous seriousness to be found in his face. "If you truly are not tired yet, how about a tour?" he asked jovially. Noctis had to shake his head to adjust to this new development. Touring his own home, that would be something new.

"I'd love to." he agreed, probably more for Ardyn's sake than his own. His companion rose briskly and led the way, not forgetting to pause at the door and let Noct through first.

They moved through some corridors with Ardyn's smooth voice providing information and no few anecdotes. In fact Noctis quickly found that while even the interior of this part of the building was very familiar, there was apparently much he never knew about it. Especially the origin of some of the decorations, which he was led to believe was a serious, almost gravely matter, not to be taken lightly. After a few little stories of statues salvaged and modified from old Imperial ones he was left with a lingering feeling of wishing to meet Ardyn's grandfather. The man seemed to have had a wicked sense of humor and the boldness to go with it.

"...he saw it, grandfather would have none of it. Thus, and I swear on my life that I am not making this up, he'd had the poor artist chop away at the statue so that our beloved goddess would have, as he put it, 'some chest on her'." Ardyn explained, pointing at a statue of Shiva whom Noct always thought looked a little too gangly. Noctis snorted imagining the face of the poor soul tasked with repurposing those statues. And really, could they not have found a female one to modify into the Glacian? His companion laughed right along with him, briefly putting a hand on his shoulder as they both tried to breathe. "I always thought she looked rather disgruntled about that development..." Ardyn continued, tears of laughter shining in his eyes. He really looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Your Highness?" a quiet voice made them both turn. It belonged to a staff member, modestly keeping her distance and looking towards the floor. Ardyn took a few seconds to process the situation before speaking out.

"Crinon, my dear! What has you hiding from us like this?" he inquired, his voice even softer than usual. The young woman bowed slightly, but when she straightened she was at least looking at them.

"I merely did not want to intrude, my Prince." she replied confidently, visibly encouraged. Ardyn smiled, satisfied.

"Did you seek us out?"

"Yes, your Highness. I am informed that dinner is waiting if you wish." Crinon explained with a small bow, this time hardly more than a nod. Ardyn turned to Noct.

"What say you, dear cousin? Shall we go?" Noctis, who had been trying to forget about how hungry he was for the last hour, wasted no time in replying.

"Let's go." His companion laughed and Noct had to wonder if he did sound too eager. Perhaps he should've said something less direct.

"In that case, let us go. Crinon, my dear, please send word that we are coming." To that, the servant bowed and turned away, lost to them in the maze of corridors in a matter of seconds. Ardyn turned slowly and started walking in a different direction, and Noct moved to follow. They walked in silence for a while. "You really could have said something." Ardyn spoke up suddenly. Noctis was taken by surprise but quickly figured out what the other meant and felt embarrassed.

"I'm not that hungry." he tried.

"Only a tiny bit starving." Ardyn replied, for all the world sounding like he agreed. "Just a tad emaciated."

"No!" Noct had no idea how to walk away from that one. "I... only a little." he realized he probably sounded like a child now and it didn't help matters at all. The other man nodded thoughtfully and remained silent for the rest of the way to one of the 'small' dining rooms. With a table for twelve this was what passed as private in the Citadel, apparently from times immemorial.

"Only a little famished." Noct was about to sit down when his companion pointed out.

"Ardyn!" he squawked, falling into the chair and staring wide-eyed. Ardyn just smiled, pulling out his own chair and sitting comfortably. 

"Happily unburdened by excess nutrition..." he murmured, ducking his head in an obvious attempt not to start laughing.

"Are you ever going to let this go?"

"Don't you worry, I get bored easily" he replied, winking at Noct. 

At that point the side doors opened and a few staff members walked in with the food. Upon discreet inspection Ardyn seemed unperturbed and gave no sign of being on the verge of a giggling fit just a few seconds before. Noctis supposed the best he could do was play along and schooled his expression into something neutral. Despite the staff disappearing as quickly as they came the two men spent the next few minutes eating in silence. It was by chance that Noct looked up and he paused immediately in the middle of dragging bits of tomato to the side of his plate. The sudden silence caused Ardyn to raise his head as well. Their eyes locked, Ardyn's fork hovering above another piece of meat he was about to maneuver aside.

"Shall we trade?" Ardyn suggested cheerfully after a few tense seconds of staring at each other. Noctis, shocked as he was, wasn't about to pass up the opportunity. He pushed his plate forward and the both of them quickly exchanged the offending bits of sustenance.

Despite knowing him for such a short time, Noct was now convinced the man really had been an innocent before the rest of his story unfolded. Whatever his role in it was precisely, whatever he did and however evil it was, at this moment in time there was no fault in him, nothing malicious at all. That didn't mean that Noctis believed Ardyn had been an innocent all along, he still considered it a serious possibility that the man would do something to deserve the fate he ultimately faced, the betrayal and rejection. The door opened again and this time it was the one they had come through. Seeing Ardyn stand up, Noctis did the same and was greeted with a royal looking individual, almost exactly the opposite of Ardyn.

The newcomer's hair was short, his clothes fancy but also perfect in a way dramatically different from Ardyn's careful carelessness. His dark eyes surveyed the situation.

"Izunia! How nice of you to have joined us!" Ardyn greeted moving towards the man.

"I was merely on my way somewhere, dear cousin, and decided to see for myself the guest you've brought." Izunia smiled at Ardyn, but quickly moved on to watching Noctis closely.

"Certainly! Izunia, meet cousin Noctis who's come to join us from halfway around the world!" Noct felt distinctly like an expensive car being presented in a salon, the way Ardyn made a fuss about waving his hand and half-bowing. He decided to take the introductions from there.

"I am happy to finally be able to meet you, cousin!" he said, extending his hand. Izunia accepted it without pause.

"Same goes to you, Noctis. It was high time the three of us found ourselves in one place, wasn't it?" The man's smile seemed somewhat off.

"It was indeed." Noct improvised.

"Izunia, will you be joining us?" Ardyn inquired with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"Sadly, I have matters to attend to, dear cousin." Izunia seemed genuine, but not entirely. Next to Noct, Ardyn deflated somewhat.

"Of course, of course. Do not let us keep you, then." he covered with a smile. His cousin nodded.

"I'm sure we will see each other more very soon." he said, glancing at Noctis. "Be well until then!" 

The two said their goodbyes as well and the man was gone. They returned to the table. Noctis noted how Ardyn seemed to need a second to regain his balance before resuming to eat. There was something amiss here, and Noct turned the situation around in his mind. There. Izunia's affection towards his cousin wasn't genuine. He aimed to manipulate him somehow into thinking it was, however. He wasn't bad at it, not at all, but still Noctis, perhaps thanks to having known Ardyn's future self, was able to decipher it in all of two minutes. And if the little signs pointed to what he thought they did, Ardyn was well aware of that. Not only aware, but hurt. Encouraged by his earlier musings about the way Umbra's abilities seemed to protect him from making fatal mistakes he made a decision.

"Ardyn?"

"Yes?" the man turned to him with the most sincere of smiles.

"There is something we need to discuss."

"Oh dear... I should hope it is nothing unpleasant."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one up. Finally we saw a bit of Izunia, what do you guys think? 
> 
> Also, Ardyn's puppy-like desperation for friends makes me sad ;_;


	5. I Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If you can prove you are of this family, then I have no reason to doubt you."

Mercifully Ardyn left the subject alone for the rest of their meal. Noct didn't feel very good about discussing it where someone could walk in at any moment, but thought explaining that would just unnecessarily upset Ardyn before he even had a chance to hear him out. He used that time to decide on how much he wanted to disclose exactly. When they were finished Ardyn stood up first.

"Come, cousin, let us be off for that chat." He announced good-naturedly. Noctis stood up to follow him without a word. "I will freely admit I'm more than a little afraid of what you're about to tell me."

"It's... nothing too bad." Noct said and immediately cringed at the lie. It was worse than bad, he admitted to himself. Even worse, he'd been getting more restless by the hour, all the events of the last few days, or what  _ seemed _ to him like a few days catching up to him. A million things were battling for his attention at once, begging to be thought through properly. The awakening, the news of how long he'd been gone, his brief reunion with his friends and the fight that ended it all. And, of course, his present situation, which was baffling to say the least. He didn't go into this with any expectations, but this was beyond anything he could've possibly imagined. When Ardyn opened the door and stepped aside to let him through Noctis moved into the room without thinking, only then noticing it wasn't familiar.

"I hope you don't mind me bringing you to my private quarters. It seemed only fair that I would provide a space I knew without doubt we'd not be interrupted in." The man explained.

"It was probably for the best." Noct replied, trying not to seem too shocked at the fact that he hadn't noticed where they were going. He looked at Ardyn only to see him staring at him intently. He understood the urgency and was about to say how it wasn't all that big of a deal and that Ardyn should sit down and relax, which probably wouldn't have sounded very reassuring.

"Now that's no good." Ardyn said, more to himself than Noct. The King could only stare at him, puzzled, silently urging him to elaborate. "You're a right mess, my friend." the man pointed to all of Noctis as if that was sufficient explanation. "Do me a favor and get some rest please?"

"We were supposed to talk." Noct protested weakly, too weirded out by the sudden concern to really take a stand.

"And we shall, of course. But... tell me, is it so urgent?" the question was accompanied by a tilt of his head, dark wine colored hair falling into his eyes. Noctis considered that carefully. He really wanted to get it over with now that he'd made the decision, but he had to admit that given Umbra's manipulations they probably had all the time in the world to discuss things. Hesitantly, he shook his head.

"It's important, but it won't change anything if it waits."

"Good! In that case, you rest up and I will go and attend to my feathery friend, hm?" Ardyn replied, nodding. Noctis took a deep breath, realizing just how stressed and jittery he was. He looked around uselessly when his companion interrupted his thoughts. "It will be best if you stay here, I think. I won't be long, I promise, and we will have that conversation soon. Would that help you relax?"

"I suppose that works." Noct was wondering when the last time he felt so awkward was. He moved to a sofa and sat on it stiffly. Ardyn's eyes never left him, observing.

"You poor soul, here, let me help." Ardyn approached and Noctis reflexively pulled away, surprised. "Oh come on cousin, trust me a little bit will you?" the man chastised playfully. "Just lay back and let me do my thing."

Even more stiff than before, Noctis slowly laid down, his eyes never leaving Ardyn's, brows furrowed, wondering what was even happening. Once he was more or less horizontal Ardyn raised his hand and held it a little bit above his chest, then closed his eyes. The feeling was familiar, but all the same different. It was some form of healing magic, undoubtedly, but it felt a lot more similar to his own and his father's, not that of the Oracle. When he looked, the faint glow surrounding Ardyn's hand was the color of rubies. He found it hard to particularly care at the moment, as the warmth spread over his body. Not healing, that it seemed too weak for, but relaxing. Ardyn opened his eyes and stood up, his smile hopeful this time.

"There. Better?" Noctis nodded and gave him a grateful smile. He'd think this through later. "Wonderful. Now, wait here and I'll be back before you know." the man assured before leaving Noct alone in his room.

The King took the opportunity to look around as much as he could from his position, the thought of getting up suddenly alien and unappealing. The place was full, that was his first impression. Full of furniture, which was a dark mahogany color and adorned with intricate floral designs on all doors and drawers. The bed, the sofa he was resting on, and the few chairs, none of which seemed to come from the same set, were covered in stacks of pillows, most of them in dark and rich autumn colors. Every other surface and bit of wall held books, papers, pictures and various little trinkets. In many places, like lamps and bed posts, colorful scarves were tied or wrapped or thrown carelessly. It was an artistic sort of mess and Noctis had the feeling even those bits were actually carefully placed for some strange reason. 

"Ah, I trust you've had a good rest, Noctis?" the voice woke him up, along with a gentle tap of fingers on his cheek. It sounded like Ardyn was suppressing a laugh. Noct opened his eyes slowly and saw the other man standing above him with his head tilted expectantly.

"Yeah..." he admitted, noting with some surprise that he actually felt good. He moved to sit, and Ardyn sat next to him. He'd discarded the coat, finally.

"Ready to chat?" for all he'd inadvertently made it sound like some disaster waiting to happen, Noctis was surprised to note eagerness in Ardyn's voice. 

"I better come right out with it, I guess." he decided with a sigh. The other didn't react, still watching him expectantly. Just one more deep breath. "Okay. Ardyn, I came here from the future." he paused, throwing a look Ardyn's way, but there was no reaction. Just the same calm curiosity. This wasn't at all how he expected this to go. "I'm not your cousin, more like your... distant descendant. Very distant."

"How distant?" Ardyn asked calmly. Noct swallowed.

"Two thousand years, give or take." he looked at his companion again and once more was surprised to find no shock, no denial, no laughter. "Are you seriously going to just believe me?" Ardyn chuckled.

"My friend, this family has been too close with the gods for me to question the probability of such a thing. There is but one proof I need from you."

"Yes?" Noctis mentally prepared himself for the tough part.

"Prove you are a Caelum."

"I'm sorry?" Noct almost choked in surprise.

"That's all I need. If you can prove you are of this family, then I’ve no reason to doubt you." Noctis found that hard to believe but didn't hesitate to do just that. Careful to do it far enough away from the other man he plucked his sword out of thin air to the faint sound of crystal shattering. After a brief look to confirm Ardyn had no further requests, he dismissed it. Ardyn nodded with a smile. "Two thousand years, who would have thought... May I inquire how you got here?"

"Umbra." Noct caught the confusion in his companion's face. "I mean, Atra. He's the Messenger."

"Ah, now I yearn to make that fact public, that would silence the complaints about the 'useless bird'."

"You're seriously okay with this?"

"What good would my protests do, anyway?" Ardyn asked philosophically before winking. "What of my cousin, though?"

"I'm pretty sure there is no cousin." the other man frowned at that "I think Umbra made sure I would have someone to impersonate, to avoid having to explain time travel. Which I can't explain, actually. I have no idea how or why he did it."

"Well, he wouldn't have sent you if there was no reason, right? But first, do you require any information to keep your disguise? I'm sure we'd better not announce all of this."

"A lot of it. I only know who you are, really."

"Do you..." Ardyn's eyes narrowed for a second. "Well then, let us start from your persona. You're the son of the youngest child in the Queen's generation, your mother is a Caelum and your father a merchant of some sorts. To be honest I don't think anyone here cares much about what he does. There is a certain distrust held for people of Altissima for their relatively easy existence. They never relied on magitek much, anyway." he waited for Noctis to nod before continuing. "My mother, the Queen is the eldest child of our grandfather. She married a man of a military background, technically minor royalty but really, father has no patience for court life. He hasn't been around much since grandfather's passing. Finally, Izunia is the son of the middle child, his father a ruler of some lands out west in our family's name. His wife was the highest standing royal there before marrying a Caelum. They both perished along with most their court and land, in an attack by a force unknown. Izunia was away then and we immediately invited him here. He's been living in Insomnia since."

"That clears things up, thank you." Noctis nodded, focusing to commit all of that to memory.

"If you need to know anything else, I will be glad to provide." Ardyn promised. Noct nodded with a smile.

"Now I suppose you want to know some things as well."

"I do. Hmm.." the older man scanned the room as if looking for inspiration. "I assume the most fitting question would be - what is the purpose of your visit?" That was unexpected.

"I don't know. It was Umbra's idea, really. Maybe I'm supposed to learn about you?" he ventured. Ardyn was still waiting. "You became someone bad." Noct forced out finally, at the last second changing from the word 'evil'. He didn't want to torment that man, he really didn't. The look on Ardyn's face made his heart stop so he pushed forward in an attempt to make this easier. "But before that, you helped a lot of people. You were able to cure the Scourge."

"The Scourge?" the man inquired gently. It suddenly hit Noct that maybe not even that had happened yet.

"The disease that... You were a savior, Ardyn. And you were betrayed, and I think that made you spiteful." he was aware he wasn't making much sense, and couldn't bring himself to let Ardyn know just how evil he'd become in the present. Even if there could be no negative consequences, he knew it would break the man and refused to be the one to do it.

"Do you mean the Plague?" Ardyn asked, obviously dreading the answer.

"I'm pretty sure it's the same thing." For a few moments Ardyn was lost in his thoughts.

"We've known about it for a while now." he nodded solemnly. "We are unsure how it works so far. It's not been noticed either here or the mainland yet, but reports from the west are worrying." he explained.

"It's going to get worse." Noct pointed out with a heavy heart.

"Yes, I imagine you wouldn't be here otherwise... Well then, what can we do about it?" he suddenly sounded cheerful again. Noct was thoroughly puzzled.

"You will receive the gift from the gods eventually. I don't know how or when, but Ardyn..."

"No way. You don't expect me to just sit around waiting for it, do you?" the man challenged. "Well then, I was supposed to resume my journey soon anyway, might as well get going."

"What journey?"

"That of the Royal Tombs, of course. I don't see a better way to convince the Six to grant me that power." Noctis wanted desperately to shake him and yell that he shouldn't want that, but he couldn't. Not in the face of such faith and determination.

"You've been to them already?" he asked instead.

"Of course! As every Crown Prince of this family. Haven't you?"

"I have." Noct admitted.

"How many have you got?" now his companion was truly excited, no sign of the grim news to be seen.

"All of them." Ardyn's eyes lit up at that.

"Really? Can I see?" he insisted.

"...Move to a bigger space?" Noct suggested, looking at all the clutter that surrounded them. Ardyn nodded quickly and led him to a small training salle close to his quarters. It might've been his private one, for all Noctis knew. "How many do you have?"

"Still missing two." Ardyn replied, then without warning the crystal blades spun around him. They were like ethereal rubies, just like his magic had been. Noctis saw two empty spots in the circle, waiting to be filled with remaining weapons. Something was off though. He barely managed to count the apparitions before they were dismissed. He could've been wrong, but there were only ten. Knowing his companion was waiting for him, Noct summoned his Armiger and let the crystalline things circle around him.

"Thirteen?" Ardyn gasped in surprise. So he had counted right, Noct thought. It wasn't hard to figure out what the difference was from there.

He nodded seriously and plucked one of the blades from the air, making it materialize fully. He held it out for the other man to examine.

"Beautiful blade." Ardyn commented, his fingers hovering above the weapon in reverence.

"It was my father's." Noct explained. 

Ardyn's eyes met his and somehow Noctis just knew that perhaps for the first time someone so immediately and instinctively connected the facts that were the reason of so much grief his whole life.

"I'm sorry." Ardyn whispered, bowing his head in condolence. As always the thought of his father's death hit Noct hard, but he found some solace in being understood for once, not just on an intellectual level but by someone who  _ felt  _ the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons for this one:
> 
> 1\. Gender has no bearing on royal status. What counts is the order in which the children were born.  
> 2\. Social status as well as names works by having the person of lower status adopt the name and status of their spouse  
> 3\. All Crown Princes/Princesses in the Caelum line journey to the Tombs either when they reach adulthood or immediately after becoming King/Queen. (my attempt at explaining Ardyn's Armiger)  
> 4\. The Kings of Old, aka the Lucii, are past royalty of Solheim, since they predate Lucis (this actually kind of comes from the Ultimania timeline)  
> 5\. There were no new Lucii between Ardyn's time and Regis. This is brought on by the fact that the Lucii whose weapons Noct collects are exactly the same as the ones who make up the Old Wall. That means there were no additional Lucii at any point in time, otherwise they'd have their statues too.
> 
> Enjoy, ask if I forgot to explain some headcanons, and please leave a comment! Also, shout-out to all the wonderful people who've already commented - you guys... are the best ;)


	6. Ultimate Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Something about a beacon of hope for the people if I recall correctly" he waved his hand dismissively. "I... disagreed."

"So, which weapons are you still missing?" Noctis spoke up, out of curiosity but more so because he wanted to change the subject. Ardyn picked up on it without hesitation.

"The Katana and the Greatsword. The former I didn't get around to visiting since my journey had already taken up considerable amounts of time. The latter, well, I must admit I've tried and had to... reschedule." Something in the self-deprecating way he said that and his choice of words told Noct he was trying to cheer him up. As much as it was transparent, it also worked. He smirked.

"Yeah. That was a nasty one." he remarked, thinking back to the maze. The daemons in there had been bad enough, but even worse was memorizing the layout of the place and figuring out which elevators he'd used last. He supposed 'elevators' wasn't the right word, anyway, and somewhere in his subconscious he heard Prompto's voice suggesting 'floaty-movey rocks' as a more accurate alternative. He chuckled to himself.

"It was indeed. I wasn't able to make it all that far in, as much as I am loathe to admit that."

"Well, you didn't miss out on much. It's just more of the same."

"I shall have to find out for myself." Ardyn replied cheerfully. In that moment, a decision was made.

"So, which one are we attacking first?"

"Pardon? Did you say 'we'?" the other man sounded almost offended.

"Uh... yeah." Noct was suddenly scared that he'd said something wrong. "There wasn't some rule you had to do it alone in your time, right?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant at all!" Ardyn shook his head violently. "I merely... Well, so far I've journeyed alone, is all I'm saying." It hit Noctis that he'd probably had nobody to go with him. It was a strange thought, seeing as the Crown Prince could undoubtedly count on all sorts of guards, warriors and servants, but... maybe he didn't want to go with someone he wasn't close with.

"Well, I've gotten both of them before so I know how to help. And there were four of us then, so really, there's no shame in being unable to get through a place like Costlemark on your own." Drawing from his own experience he assumed dragging the subject of friends to the surface wouldn't be the nicest thing to do, so he covered with practicality. He still hoped his reassuring smile would convey his support. Ardyn seemed shocked to say the least.

"Would you really wish to go on such an arduous journey for my sake? As you said, you've already got those weapons, there's no need for you to go back-"

"Got nothing better to do, do I?" Noct interrupted before the other had a chance to say more. He felt it wouldn't be fair to expect an answer right away and fished for a subject to switch to. "Say, Ardyn?"

"Yes?" the man still looked perplexed, but reluctantly took the bait.

"How old are you, exactly?" It was a weird question to ask out of the blue, Noctis thought, but he'd been wondering that for a while.

"Twenty-six. Why?"

"That's funny." Noct chuckled. Ardyn tilted his head like a curious magpie.

"What is?"

"I'm currently older than you." It was a strange thought, seeing as in the present Ardyn was something of an ancient.

"Goodness, I sure hope I don't look it!" the other squawked indignantly. Noctis' eyes went wide.

"What do you mean?" he was suddenly feeling insecure.

"I feel like if I looked any younger than you I'd be an infant!"

"What?" At that Ardyn grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him back to his room where he snatched a fairly big and unwieldy mirror off a wall. Absently, Noct noted there were multiple much smaller mirrors scattered about the room. What made this one special, he had no idea.

"...oh." he said after confirming he was back to looking like he did before the Crystal. "Hey, I look twenty!" he pointed out grumpily.

"Of course you do." Ardyn patted his head like he was fearing the younger man would start crying. Noctis swatted at his hand.

"Ardyn?"

"Yes?" the smile was wide and pleasant as usual.

"You're an ass." The Prince laughed heartily at that.

"I suppose so. Do you truly think yourself ready to put up with my company?" he asked with a cheeky grin

"I've had so much worse." Noctis replied with a smile, thinking of all the playful banter he'd shared with his friends during their trip. 

Ardyn replaced the mirror with some help from his companion and they sat in opposite armchairs to talk. They didn't exactly talk about anything in particular, mostly it was Noctis trying to get a better feel for where and when he was and how to blend in better. All the while they exchanged occasional sarcastic remarks and shared a few laughs. It felt oddly natural. At last, Ardyn looked around and stood up.

"Ah, I seem to have gotten carried away, friend. It is about to get dark. Come, let me lead you back to your rooms." he announced. Noct, while slightly puzzled, got up without complaints. Outside, the windowless corridors were lit by a faint, yellow glow of what looked like oddly shaped lightbulbs.

"What is it about it getting dark?" he asked as they were almost there. It stirred the familiar fear in him, but no, Ardyn had said the Scourge hadn't gotten near yet.

"I may be great at navigating this place, but even I would rather avoid doing so in the darkness." the man said as if that was explanation enough. Noctis frowned.

"Darkness?"

"Right, I may have failed to mention." Ardyn slowed down, apparently making sure they'd have enough time to finish the conversation. "We do not power the Citadel for longer than a half hour after dark."

"Why is that?" Noct inquired. The other man shook his head.

"It's a bit of a long story I'm afraid. The short version is that I made sure we wouldn't be using the last dregs of power we have for unnecessary comforts. We do keep on the light at the top of the tower, it's something of a compromise. You see, mother insisted we keep the Citadel lit up as a symbol, something about a beacon of hope for the people if I recall correctly" he waved his hand dismissively. "I... disagreed. In the end it was decided that we would have the light up top on, and the inside of the Citadel dark." he finished explaining just as Noctis' door came in sight. The King was surprised and, if he was honest, rather impressed.

"That's... noble." he said and immediately thought he must've sounded like the opposite of what he was trying to convey. Ardyn didn't mind.

"It's a necessity." he stated. "Anyway, I should not keep you, and I still have to get back without ruining our precious decor by walking head first into things." he winked. "If the light keeps you up, the blinds should be more than enough to keep it out." Noct chuckled at that.

"There's not much that can stand between me and sleep."

"That's good to hear. Rest, my friend." With that, Ardyn turned away and disappeared.

Left alone in the room Noctis took some time to familiarize himself with the layout and get ready for bed. Sure enough, some twenty minutes after he'd arrived the lights went out. For a few seconds he was left in near-absolute darkness and then a strong, white light came on, bathing the room in a glow similar to the full moon, except stronger. It was dark inside, technically, but there was more than enough light to navigate by. Noct approached the window to look at the city. Most of the buildings outside were already dark and he saw other lights flickering off quickly. He was surprised to see it didn't resemble anything he'd seen during a power failure, the lights weren't turning off in sectors or buildings, but one by one. That meant they didn't actually cut the power outside like they did in the Citadel, and yet everyone in the city seemed in a hurry to turn theirs off. He wondered if there was an official order, or some punishment for abusing the privilege.

While he was pretty sure he'd be able to fall asleep regardless, Noctis pulled the blinds down. They did work as promised and there was hardly any light coming through. He only bumped into a chair once on his way to bed.

He woke up to find the room nearly as dark as he saw it last. It was only the warmer tone of the light that told him it was probably the sun now, and not the Citadel's light. He was comfortable and completely unwilling to get up if he could help it, so he didn't move even when he heard a quiet knock on the door. Then there was the barest creak and the sound of footsteps. The best Noct could muster was opening his eyes.

"Aw, how adorable." Ardyn's voice was openly mocking. Noctis mumbled something a King should never be heard saying. It was probably for the better that he was totally impossible to understand. "Will you be joining the land of the living anytime soon, my friend?"

"Uuhhmmmffff!" Upon uttering that Noct heard Ardyn laugh.

"Yes, of course, but what about breakfast?"

"Hnnnnnno."

"Are you sure?" the other man sounded like he was having the time of his life at Noctis' expense. "You can go back to bed afterwards, I promise."

Finally Noct heaved his body up to a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes. He looked up at his companion slightly more aware.

"What's for breakfast?" he still slurred a bit but was at least understandable.

"I have no way of knowing, I've been waiting for you to join me." Suddenly Noctis felt guilty.

"You should've..."

"Nonsense! Now come on, get up!" Ardyn wouldn't let him get a word in, and proceeded to tug at his blanket. Instead of pulling it off in one motion he kept jerking it away bit by bit, which nearly drew Noct insane within ten seconds.

"Okay, okay, I'm going!" he snapped. The other just laughed.

"Okay. I shall wait for you outside." With that he left the room before Noctis was able to say he could've waited inside. The bathroom was a separate thing, after all, it wasn't like Ardyn would have to watch him change. As he got ready for the day he thought maybe it was him and his loose interpretation of royal manners that was weird here. He'd spent more nights than he could count sharing a tent with three other guys, after all. Finally he emerged from the room to find Ardyn waiting outside his door just like he said he would. They walked to the dining room in merciful silence, as Noct was pretty sure he was incapable of forming coherent thoughts. It was halfway through breakfast, when the King was already more or less lucid, that he spoke.

"So, Ardyn. When do you want to get going on that journey?" The other paused thoughtfully before answering.

"We shall see how things play out. I am scheduled to meet with the Queen very soon, I should hope she will have nothing against us leaving now. After that it's a matter of gathering whatever supplies we deem necessary and heading out." So apparently he'd agreed to take Noctis along. It was answer enough for Noct and he didn't see the need for it to be said officially. He nodded.

"Do you have anything for me to do in the meantime?" Ardyn narrowed his eyes.

"Anything to do? My, to be frank I expected you to immediately return to the warm embrace of your bed." he was using that mocking tone again.

"It wasn't working out between us." the King replied grumpily.

"Would you have me direct you to other beds, then? I assure you there is a lot to choose from."

"I'm serious." Ardyn smiled innocently at that.

"Well, you are free to do as you please. Is there anything in particular you would like to see? I can arrange for a guide if you want."

"I don't know. I'd rather stay close I guess." his companion hummed thoughtfully, his searching gaze directed somewhere above Noct's head.

"How about the stables?" he offered.

"The stables?"

"You do need to choose a steed for the journey, after all. You are free to take your pick from any and all you find there." Noct thought about it for a moment.

"Okay. That sounds like a plan."

Soon they were done with breakfast and Ardyn gave him directions before disappearing towards the higher levels of the Citadel.

Upon entering the royal stables Noctis had to fight the urge to smack his forehead when realization hit him. All of the chocobos inside were black. Now he remembered Wiz saying something about them having been more common in the old days, and he supposed it made sense for his family in particular to have kept those. It also explained why Ardyn seemed perplexed by him pointing out the bird was special. 

He walked between the rows of birds, all of them big, shiny and obviously in excellent condition, when a mad screech made him turn around sharply.

"KWEH! KWEH!!" When he turned he spotted Umbra, or rather, Atra, yelling and puffing his feathers in an attempt to draw his attention.

"Hey, hey, calm down." he started, walking closer to the bird. He saw some of the staff throwing strange looks his way. He supposed if Atra was anything like Umbra had been, they were even more surprised than Ardyn had been at how quickly man and bird took to each other.

"Wark!" The huge bird calmed down somewhat and offered his neck for attention. Noctis didn't need to be told twice, scratching and petting the animal who responded by closing his eyes contentedly.

"That's a good boy... Hey Umbra, do you have any friends here?" he asked suddenly.

"Kweh?" 

"Let me phrase that again. Atra-"

"Kweh!"

"-do you have any friends you'd like to take along?" The bird didn't seem to have understood him, which was a little odd. Before he could think better of it, Noctis opened his pen and gently grabbed the thin, golden chain that hung loosely around the bird's neck. Atra followed him without question.

They walked up and down the stable, Noct observing the chocobo closely. Finally, Atra stepped away from him to offer a friendly greeting to another bird.

"There." Noctis announced. "You're going with us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is writing itself I swear
> 
> Not many new headcanons to explain here, mostly just boys being boys. You may have noticed Noctis ended up acting like his younger self around Ardyn, due to the fact that he feels comfortable enough around him. He's still weirded out by that.
> 
> About the chain thing, chocobos we see in-game tend to have horse-like tack mostly, but I thought the Caelum chocobos would be trained battle steeds, so when they're in their pens the only thing they wear is a loose gold chain. They're trained enough that people trust them to not get loose on the rare occasions they are taken out of their pens without getting fully dressed first ;) 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who's been commenting! <3


	7. Reality Dream I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "some things are necessary, Noct"  
> "even though they may not be nice"

Noct didn't think they'd be actually departing immediately, and it wasn't like he had anything to pack, so he was left with nothing else in particular to do. He locked Atra back up, for which he had to bribe him with food and head scratches for a good ten minutes, and took his chosen chocobo out. Before he opened the door to his pen he glanced at the golden tag with its occupant's name. Corvus, it said. A little simple, but nonetheless fitting, Noctis supposed it was a name right up his alley. The bird ruffled its feathers at him, but stepped out obediently. Loosely attaching his chain to a hook in the wall that looked like it was meant for that, Noct stepped away to have a good look at him. The bird was huge, much like most of the royal chocobos that surrounded him, and very well kept. Being all black it had few distinguishing features but Noctis did his best to commit those to memory, wanting to be able to tell his bird from others at least. After that it was time for bribery and he soon learned Corvus' favorite snacks and scratching spots.

"Aren't you two just meant for each other..." Ardyn apparently had trouble saying hello like a normal person whenever he appeared.

"I'm in a committed relationship with the bed, remember?" Noct asked, not pausing in scratching the spot right between the bird's wings.

"My bad. I thought you had separated." the other man sighed, coming to stand beside Noctis. He picked up some greens and offered them to the bird, who took them gently.

"How did it go?"

"As well as one could expect." now Ardyn too was giving Corvus scratches and Noct suddenly felt competitive about winning the bird's favor. "We will leave tomorrow, if you don't mind."

"It's okay with me."

"Good. In that case, how about we go for a ride, so you two can get acquainted before the journey?" he offered. Noctis didn't need convincing.

"Let's go."

With Ardyn's help he located the chocobo's tack and put it on the bird without issue. He was actually impressed with how well behaved the Citadel chocobos were. Predictably, Ardyn and Atra finished first. Corvus stood still like a statue as Noct hopped on his back and then moved obediently to stand next to Atra.

"No time to waste." Ardyn said, and before Noctis had a chance to react he and Atra were out the door.

Luckily for him, the King was a great rider himself and he had no problem catching up. Ardyn led them through the raised lanes for riders again, slowly but surely taking them closer to the gate. It was an entirely different experience following those roads at a fast trot, with wind blowing in their ears. Now Noct could really appreciate the way the city was constructed. He wondered if that was something typical of Solheim and decided to ask his companion later. Before long they were out in the open, Ardyn the first to slow down and let Noctis catch up to him.

"Well?" he asked, as little out of breath.

"He's great." Noct nodded, smiling appreciatively.

"I expected as much." Ardyn replied, obviously proud of the bird.

"Really?" the younger challenged.

"Yes, really. It is with pride that I proclaim the Citadel chocobos as perhaps the best in the world." Ardyn said, mock-wounded. Noct laughed.

"I'm not about to argue. Wish we still had those."

"You don't? Ah, what a waste." he appeared genuinely saddened by the development.

"Yeah. I don't know when that happened but there were never chocobos in the Citadel that I remember."

"You should rectify that mistake at the first opportune moment, friend." Noct stared at him, wondering how to express the multitude and finality of reasons why that would not work, without making his companion even sadder.

"I guess I'll have to." he choked out in the end. 

"I could give you tips." It was unreasonable to expect his reaction escaped Ardyn's notice, but the other man didn't acknowledge it in any way. Noctis felt grateful for it, and more than a little guilty for making him worry.

He didn't have long to dwell on it, because Ardyn quickly steered the conversation towards safer subjects. They spent a long time riding, exploring the forests surrounding the city and talking. Most of the conversation was spent with Noct inquiring about Ardyn's experiences in acquiring the Armiger, and telling his stories in return. It was hours later that they decided to head back, both tired and hungry.

"Race you to the gate?" Noctis offered. The smile he got in return was answer enough and they turned their birds and set off at a sprint at the same time.

The birds were evenly matched, both swift, obedient and fearless. The forest terrain was hard to navigate at such a pace and until the last moments it was up in the air who would win. However, at the last stretch of grass Noct's experience in racing got him the smallest bit of advantage and he reached the gate less than a full length ahead. He turned Corvus on the spot, clapping his hand on the gate to claim his victory. Ardyn, going as fast as he was, barely managed to do the same next to him instead of crashing into Noctis. At the sides, the guards jumped away in panic.

"That... was a good race." Ardyn huffed, taking the reins in one shaky hand and bowing as gracefully as he was able while trying to keep breathing.

"Yeah." Noctis bowed back, laughing. It quickly turned into a coughing fit, and as his companion joined in he too started hacking up his lungs almost immediately. As they both tried to calm down Ardyn patted Noct's back.

"Your victory was... fair, but I cannot wait... for a... rematch." he got out.

"Rest first." Noctis announced, and both of them started laugh-coughing again. They turned their chocobos and went a small circle at a steady trot to help them calm down as well. The birds were tired, sure, but excited nonetheless and would probably keep going if allowed. As they approached the gate again it was opened before them, the guards who were previously too shocked to speak greeting them quietly. The two companions spent the rest of the trip back in silence, focused on breathing more than anything.

The chocobos cooled down and locked up, they went in for a dinner during which they recounted their ride while almost-sneakily dumping bits of food into each other's plates.

Soon after they found themselves in Ardyn's rooms, Noctis there theoretically to help him pack, which he had no idea how to approach. In the end they were both throwing things into fairly big saddle bags Ardyn took out from somewhere, Noct just putting in whatever he was directed to.

"Noctis, fetch that notebook for me please" Ardyn said, pointing to a small, leather bound book. Noct went to grab it but as he was reminded of the journal he and Luna had shared he picked it up reverently, trying very hard not to look even at the cover too much. Ardyn raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on Noctis, it's not made of glass for gods' sake." he chastised, but then a thought occurred to him. He squinted at his companion. "Oh, you thought it a diary, did you not?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to..." Noct attempted to explain lamely.

"Well it is no such thing." Ardyn announced. "Go on, have a look. There's nothing private there, I assure you."

Noctis didn't look convinced, but tentatively opened the notebook. Seconds later he was sitting on the sofa, reading, as his companion continued to pack only occasionally glancing to probe his reaction. Before long, Noctis was giggling like a child.

"What the hell, Ardyn?" he half-yelled. The other man shrugged innocently. "What... What is this??" Noct demanded between giggles.

"Oh, nothing in particular. I simply enjoy writing poetry sometimes." Ardyn's smile was still innocent but his eyes betrayed he felt proud of his creations eliciting the desired reaction.

"You call THAT poetry?"

"It rhymes, does it not?" another shrug, but by now it was obvious Ardyn was trying not to laugh himself.

" _ Gaze at the sky/Admire its charm/The clouds passing by/The colors of dawn/But in all of your awe/Be sure not to gape/For a pigeon is coming/And his aim is great _ " Noctis recited before erupting into another fit of giggles. "What in the everloving- just, WHAT, Ardyn? Why?" he demanded.

"Do you like it?" Now Ardyn was laughing, too.

"I love it." Noct replied, before putting the notebook into one of the bags. "I am so reading all of that."

"You're welcome to."

Once they both calmed down they went back to packing, then swiftly moving on to Noct's bags. He patiently denied Ardyn's offers of  _ even more  _ clothes and things, and offered the spare space that was left in his bags to Ardyn, who then promptly stuffed it full of chocobo treats. Noct supposed he couldn't blame him, having smuggled extra treats for his chocobo before. Over supper they went through the list of necessities to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything, and after that they retired early, planning on leaving first thing in the morning. Noctis wasn't very hopeful about that, but he supposed he'd deal.

* * *

Forced to watch, unable to do anything but, he tried desperately to at least focus on something besides what was happening before his other eyes, but found he could not.

The daemons gone, feelings he'd never expected to experience again were tearing him apart.

He could do nothing but scream silently in his mind.

And scream he did. Just as back then.

And just like back then, nobody could hear, and nobody would listen.

* * *

Noct's phone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed, opening one eye, then pulled it out and unlocked.

"hello sleepyhead! "

"get up, you've got places to be "

Noctis looked around, but there was no trace of the white fox-like creature. He found himself sitting on the floor in one of the rooms in the Citadel.  _ His  _ Citadel, he realized. The one he grew up in. He got up slowly and started walking.

"you wanted to know why you were with him, right?"

"don't worry "

"just do what you think is right, okay?"

""

He'd been walking through one of the corridors, without any real aim besides having a look around, when he heard a noise, like a muffled scream. He ran towards the nearest window, ignoring the buzzing in his pocket.

He barely managed to get a glimpse of Ardyn, the way he knew him in the present but on his knees, before everything changed and he was in the darkness again. The phone buzzed again and he took it out, irritated with how the dream was leading him where it wanted.

"don't look "

"some things are necessary, Noct"

"even though they may not be nice"

"you know that, right? "

"now, get up "

"Noctis? Why am I not surprised?" Ardyn's voice, soft and pleasant and not rough from screaming broke through his dream. This time Noctis opened his eyes immediately. His companion looked just like he had the evening before, watching him with a trace of a smirk. Then his face shifted to worry and he sat on Noct's bed. "Goodness, are you alright?"

"Yeah... Just a dream." Noctis deflected. Ardyn didn't seem convinced.

"Well whatever it was... Is there any way I can help, friend?"

"No, I'm good..." Noct attempted to brush him off, but the worry in the man's golden eyes was too honest to ignore. He sighed. "Unless... That thing you did before... can you?" Ardyn smiled kindly and reached above Noct's chest again. Closing his eyes, he let the ruby light do its job. Noctis took a deep breath for what seemed like the first time in forever.

"Better. Thank you." he said.

"My pleasure." his companion replied, and somehow Noctis couldn't chalk it up to a practiced, polite response. He was genuinely happy to have been able to help.

"I never asked... How do you do that?" Noctis inquired, eager to change the subject.

"It's just a little thing I came up with, back when I took care of Atra. Poor thing was always so jittery..." Ardyn offered Noct his hand and helped him out of bed, seemingly enjoying being helpful even if he knew it wasn't necessary. "Anyway, I manipulate a tiny bit of elemental energy to do it. It takes some getting used to in order to get it just right, but it's fairly easy after you manage it once." Noct nodded thoughtfully.

"I'd like to learn how to do it." he said. Ardyn nodded.

"Will you be alright if I leave you now?" he asked, still obviously worried. "I was planning to prepare our birds while you get ready, and then join you for breakfast..."

"Yeah, no problem." Noctis replied, immediately noticing the other wasn't convinced. "Go, alright? I'll be fine." he said. That seemed to be enough for Ardyn, who left his room, however still a little reluctantly.

He arrived for breakfast first and started eating figuring practicality took precedence over manners today. Not long after Ardyn hurried in. Noct raised an eyebrow and immediately pushed his plate forward, a small pile of fresh broccoli sprouts and radish waiting there.

"Truly, my friend, if I didn't benefit from the situation so I would question your taste." Ardyn commented, nevertheless shuffling the vegetables quickly onto his plate.

"Would you believe I could say the same?" Noct replied, snatching a piece of meat from Ardyn's plate.

"Yes, I suppose so..." Ardyn sighed, pretending to be offended by the theft. "It would seem the Queen wishes to bid us farewell. Will you join me?" Noctis thought about it for a second.

"Don't see why not. What do I tell her?"

"Just be my cousin." Ardyn shrugged. "It won't seem too odd if you stay out of most of it, though. Therefore it is mostly up to you."

Noctis nodded seriously and went back to eating. He'd gotten over his dislike of royal audiences, mostly, so he supposed he'd be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me go lol  
> Headcanons:
> 
> 1\. Ardyn used to write silly little poems for fun  
> 2\. He's a really good rider, but he never raced so Noct beats him  
> 3\. The race was basically there to explore Ardyn's attitude towards losing. He's like a kid, he doesn't care who won he just wants to go again
> 
> You've been asking about Present!Ardyn. I... delivered? lol  
> Let me know what you think ;)


	8. Heavenland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There is something unique about this place, won't you agree?"  
> "Yeah." Noct nodded, smiling. "Memories."

It was almost easy to follow the script, one he'd learned so well but never respected much. Noctis stood a step to the right and behind Ardyn, bowing in the precise, well rehearsed way that was drilled into him from the earliest years.

"It is an honor to meet you, your Majesty." he greeted, his smile only just genuine enough to not seem forced, lest the meeting lose some of its formal tone. The Queen nodded with a similar smile.

"I hear my son has taken to you." she said.

"It is only natural, we are family after all." Noct replied. The Queen looked thoughtful for a moment, then moved her gaze to Ardyn.

"So it is time for you to finish your journey, my son."

"It was high time, your Majesty, that I did what needs to be done. For the Crown." Ardyn replied confidently, bowing as he said the last bit. His mother looked pleased.

"And you, young man. I appreciate you joining him."

"It is a pleasure to accompany your son, your Majesty." Noctis said, wondering just how much he was channeling Ignis now.

"Nevertheless, know that you have my gratitude." Ardyn's mother nodded in appreciation. Noct bowed. "Do keep him out of trouble, please." At that Noctis had to fight the urge to smirk.

"I will do my best, your Majesty."

"Go then, and may the Six guide your steps." she announced. The two men took their cue and bowed in unison before backing out of the chamber.

"Not so bad, was it?" Ardyn started as they were hurrying towards the stables. Noct shrugged.

"As far as audiences go, it was almost fun."

"Well then, we've no time to waste. I'm hoping to cover some ground yet today." At that Noctis merely nodded and continued walking.

Minutes later they mounted their chocobos and set out at an even trot. The city moved around them in a hazy blur as neither was paying much attention. After that was the forest, complete with a few hills, and just before noon they reached the shore. Noct stopped on the crest of yet another hill to take a good look around. There was a bridge there, or rather, what was left of it. The structure was incomplete and a few vehicles and some people milled about it, apparently restoring it.

"No bridge, huh?" Noctis asked.

"Whenever it seems we may finally have the resources to finish it, something new comes up." his companion explained, before nudging his chocobo into resuming its trot, heading to the left of the huge structure. As Noct followed, they came to a large flat barge, powered with magitek. There were some people there too, though not many, and they greeted their Prince and his companion cheerfully. They returned the hellos and dismounted, then made to secure a spot for the trip. As soon as everyone gathered was on board the vehicle started moving at a slow pace.

"How long will this take?"

"About two hours, usually." Ardyn replied. "We have ample opportunity to enjoy the view."

"So, what is the plan for today, exactly?"

"Simple, really. Get as far as we can before sundown. If we continue to make good time we should reach the opposite shore in five or six days, I think." Noct nodded, making his own calculations in his head.

"Seems doable, if we push it. What then?"

"We will try to locate my father. He's in possession of an airship, you see, one we might use to get through the sea. There are no barges like this one that far west, I'm afraid."

"Hm. Have you flown it before?"

"Once or twice, when we chanced upon each other on the road. It's an unwieldy thing, but it will do."

Most of the journey was spent watching the flowing water and feeding treats to chocobos, both of whom were bored and eager to get on land as soon as possible. Once they reached the opposite shore they wasted no time mounting the birds and setting off. The pace they kept made it almost impossible to communicate besides the occasional yell or gesture to indicate where they should go next. The terrain was altogether unfamiliar to Noct, the entirety of what he knew as a desert covered in a dense forest. Many times they encountered streams, hills and small ravines, many of them forcing the two to adjust their path. Ardyn remained sure of where he needed to go, and if it weren't for his time spent with Gladio Noct would have trouble believing how it was even possible with all the meandering they did. Noctis didn't know the first thing about it, but there were ways, apparently. The terrain made the journey much more tiring than it would've been otherwise, both to them and their birds, so it was barely beginning to get dark when they started considering where to settle for the night.

"Hope you know where the nearest haven is." Noct said, prompting Ardyn to tilt his head curiously.

"Why would we need one?" he asked. Noctis belatedly remembered about the Plague not being there yet.

"No daemons in the night?"

"None that I am aware of." his companion explained, then paused in thought. "However, it may be best to take precautions even now." he decided. Noct had to admit he preferred it that way.

"How do we find one though?" Instead of replying Ardyn looked around for a while, before settling on a direction. "You're sure?"

"As sure as I can be given the circumstances. After all, if we do not find the haven we may simply settle for the night in any other suitable spot." he pointed out. Noctis supposed it was a good enough answer and followed him, at a much slower pace now that less and less light was filtering down to the bottom of the forest.

Sure enough, half an hour later they saw the familiar cold glow of runes in the near-dark. They let their chocobos pick up the pace and reached it without issue. They were silent as they busied themselves with setting up camp. It was obvious one of them was not used to sharing those chores, while the other smoothly picked up whatever he wouldn't get in the way doing. Noct saw that Ardyn noticed the difference as well and was sending the King occasional glances, as if pondering it. Finally they were done, a small tent set up, fire burning and chocobos fed. They sat near the fire, sharing a meal packed from the Citadel.

"Are you satisfied with the progress?" Noct asked, breaking the silence. "Tomato?"

"Thank you." Ardyn speared the vegetable with the tip of his knife. "We could've done better, but yes. We'll be out of the forest early tomorrow, hopefully, and then we can pick up the pace a tad." Noctis chewed his food in thought for a moment.

"Guess you would've made it faster if you were alone."

"No, I don't think so. In fact, dear Noctis, I dare say I might've gotten a bit ambitious with you around." he said with a wink.

"Call me Noct, okay?" At that Ardyn looked at him for a long moment, with something hard to identify in his eyes. It was wistful, somehow, and yet hopeful.

"Thank you." he replied with a small bow. "I shall."

"Good." Noct made a show of not considering it a big deal. Seeing that, Ardyn chuckled.

"Want some?" he suggested, offering some pieces of meat to Noctis.

"Sure." the younger man wasted no time getting them. "So how about one of your poems?"

"I don't have them all memorized, you know." Ardyn replied with a frown.

"Then improvise."

"Improvise, you say?" he sighed. "Well, alright.  _ Wind blows swiftly through the tree/Don't aim into it when you pee. _ " Beside him, Noctis giggled.

"This is so dumb, you know?"

"Yes, that is rather the point." Ardyn said, pretending to be hurt by his laughing. "You, however, asked for it knowing full well what to expect."

"Sure did. Lettuce?"

"Yes, please."

They stayed up late into the night, talking and laughing, sitting comfortably against the sleeping forms of their chocobos. When they finally retired, sleep came easy to both, even though Ardyn seemed rather twitchy for a while. Noctis supposed it was only natural for someone not used to sharing a tent like he was. Ardyn would get used to it soon enough, just like he did.

Morning came all too soon for Noctis, who was woken up by the merciless sun shining right in his face. Reflexively, he tried opening his eyes only to regret it immediately. His second attempt went much better since he remembered to shield them with his hand. The light was all around and all too bright, though. Hazily, while he was waiting for his eyes to adjust, he realized they were in a dense forest. Sure, the haven created a small clearing, but still... As soon as he could, Noct looked around, finding no trace of Ardyn, then towards the exit, finding it open, some dark figure standing near.

"What the..." he muttered. The light left his face immediately, and soon after Ardyn joined him in the tent, looking smug as ever and holding a mirror.

"Good morning!" he announced jovially. Noctis wasted no time, instead tackling him in an attempt to take the godsdamned mirror away. After some shuffling about, some yelling and a lot more laughter, Ardyn emerged victorious. "I will be keeping that, thank you." he announced, putting the mirror in one of his pockets.

"You're awful."

"And you're adorable when you pout." Ardyn laughed, then ran from the tent before retribution could catch up to him.

With nothing better to do Noct left the tent soon after. He was going to be angry with Ardyn, but he was greeted with breakfast, including hot tea steaming in the morning chill. Reluctantly, he decided to leave revenge for later. At the side of the haven, the chocobos were nearly finished with their morning greens.

"Look who decided to grace us with his presence!" Ardyn exclaimed, pointing Noctis out to the birds who barely spared a glance towards the human, too engrossed in their meal.

"Yeah, funny story, something woke me up." Noct grumbled, sitting down and accepting a mug of tea. "Have you been up long?"

"Just long enough to get bored." Ardyn's voice was accusing, but his eyes full of mirth.

"I noticed that much."

As soon as breakfast was done and their makeshift camp packed they set out again. Just like Ardyn had said, it was less than three hours when the forest gave way to the more familiar terrain of Duscae, what Noct recognized must've been the Alstor Slough shimmering in the distance. He could even see the faint silhouettes of catoblepas inhabiting it.

"Finally." Ardyn said, stopping Atra next to him. He took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes.

"Missed it?" Noctis gently bumped his shoulder.

"I did indeed. There is something unique about this place, won't you agree?"

"Yeah." Noct nodded, smiling. "Memories." Before Ardyn had a chance to respond the King took off at a sprint. They had to slow down soon in order not to tire the birds out too fast, but they kept at a fast trot well into the evening.

Put at ease by the familiarity of his surroundings, it was only at Corvus' indignant screech that Noctis noticed they were about to ride straight into a group of sabertusks. He threw a questioning look Ardyn's way. Ardyn, who apparently saw the animals just a bit earlier, stopped next to him and shrugged with an innocent smile.

"They seem to have noticed us already, I say we have little choice but to indulge them." he said.

"Let's do that." Noctis replied, hopping off his chocobo. Ardyn did the same and with a quick look and a nod they were both warping into the middle of the pack.

The sabertusks seemed larger and stronger than Noctis remembered them. Still, they were no match for either of them and the fight was hardly a challenge. Noct kept warping from place to place, careful not to let the beasts catch him off guard. He used a few spare seconds he managed to get to observe how Ardyn was fighting. The man seemed to favor daggers at the moment, though every few strikes he'd switch to whatever other weapon was the most appropriate. Adjusting his stance and strategy, Noctis leapt in with a greatsword. He caught one of the sabertusks in the leg, practically throwing it into Ardyn's daggers. The next one he nearly cleaved in half mid-air before warping in to shield Ardyn from a back attack as the man plunged a spear into another creature. To someone as used to fighting in a group as Noct was it was obvious how out of sync they were, but it barely mattered against such a weak enemy. The pack was fairly large, ten animals or so, and it took them a little while to fight their way through them. By the time they were done the older man was already starting to be able to anticipate Noctis' movements a little. Soon, they were done, catching their breaths standing back to back amid the carnage.

"Good job." Noct said, patting the other's shoulder as he moved to face him. Ardyn chuckled quietly.

"Yes, not bad yourself."

"Now, where are those damned birds..." Noctis looked around only to find the two lazily pecking at leaves barely a few meters away. Catching sight of his surprised expression, Ardyn huffed.

"Citadel chocobos, Noct." he said simply.

"Color me impressed." the younger man replied with a chuckle before going to fetch them.

Soon they were back on their way. At Noct's suggestion they went a little off track as evening approached and aimed for a haven near the Slough. They made camp there, amid Ardyn's indignant remarks about insects. They were making good progress, Ardyn decided, and should be reaching their goal on time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post one a day but this one just happened :P
> 
> headcanons and notes:  
> 1\. Leide is a wasteland in FFXV but I'm chalking it up to the war with Niflheim. I wondered what sort of climate would make sense between the humid Duscae and the seemingly mostly warm Insomnia and decided on a dense forest. Idk it seemed like a good idea xP  
> 2\. Noct hates being called cute, and hates when people point out when he pouts. Ardyn got double points on that one :B  
> 3\. This chapter's Ardyn Poetry courtesy to a good friend of mine -waves-  
> 4\. The reason the sabertusks are slightly stronger than in-game is because there is less civilization -> less environmental pressure favoring smaller predators. Yes I'm a nerd what can I say  
> 5\. Ardyn absolutely despises mosquitos (who doesn't tho) He's kind of a pissbaby about them
> 
> Thank you for all your support <3 <3 <3   
> and keep those comments coming, you've no idea just how happy they make me! (spoiler: ridiculosly happy)


	9. In Two Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "something tells me you wouldn't be here, enjoying the fine company of your distant ancestor, if there were other places for you to be."

"I truly have no idea why we had to make camp here of all places. Do tell me Noct, why did you insist on it?"

"I wanted to see the Slough?" Noctis offered, not really convincing himself as he fought with the tent flap to keep the mosquitos out.

"The Slough?" Ardyn tilted his head.

"The water?"

"You mean the lake?"

"What can I say? I remembered it being more muddy." Noct tried standing his ground again.

"And why, pray tell, would a  _ more muddy  _ place be suitable for spending the night?" Ardyn questioned even more intently.

"I closed the tent, you know. Let's just sleep."

"I have not yet grown bored of pestering you, therefore I refuse."

"Yeah, right." It was a bit of a revelation to Noctis that nearly every time Ardyn complained he was actually just messing with him. He was getting used to it, though.

They were getting ready to sleep, rearranging their makeshift beds in the light of a weak magitek lamp when Ardyn, who was at the moment carefully folding his coat and putting it away paused for a moment.

"So, Noct, seems like good old Reaper survived the two millennia alright?" For a second Noctis was completely disoriented but then he sat up to see what Ardyn was looking at. The man was messing with one of the golden skull-shaped buttons on Noct's discarded shirt. 

"I guess so." he replied with a shrug. That earned him an inquisitive look.

"You don't care about our precious patron, do you?"

"Not particularly." the King thought it would be enough, but his companion obviously waited for more. "I was never big on all of that memento mori crap." he explained reluctantly.

"I'm sorry?" Ardyn frowned. 

"What you heard. Can we sleep now?" The other slowly laid down but before Noct could turn away and go to sleep he spoke up again.

"What did they tell you about him?" he asked quietly. It was a weird question if Noctis ever heard one.

"Uh. The usual. That he's a reminder of death. Is this really more important than sleep?" he tried getting out of it again.

"Curious." Ardyn replied with a low chuckle. "That our family would forget that, of all things." That drew Noct's attention, somewhat.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the Reaper does symbolize death, obviously. But his grim countenance aside, he is rather fit for reaping crops, is he not?" Noctis covered his face with a pillow, muffling a groan.

"Seriously?" he complained. Ardyn sighed as if he had to deal with a particularly dense child.

"Oh, Noct. The Reaper is the patron of Insomnia because it is a city born, reaping the benefits, if you will, of another civilization's demise." Noct slowly emerged from the pillow.

"That is actually much less disturbing than I thought."

"See? Of course grandfather could've picked a more obvious symbol, a phoenix perhaps, but the Reaper had been one of the few symbols our family has used consistently through the ages. I daresay he made the right choice."

"Interesting. I wonder why I never heard that."

"So do I, dear Noctis. Anyway, we should sleep now." Ardyn announced, closing his eyes.

Not one to refuse, Noct finally rolled into a ball and focused on tuning out any further distractions.

"Was I put down?" came Ardyn's quiet voice a good ten minutes later.

"What?" Noctis groaned, wondering at what point it would be fair to murder his companion with his own pillow.

"You said I became... bad." the way he said that word, it was obvious he knew it was an understatement. "Was I put down?" he repeated, more insistently but just as quietly. Suddenly, Noct completely forgot about sleeping.

"Ardyn..." he tried protesting, not wanting to get into that subject. Even less so when he realized Ardyn was hoping the answer was 'yes'.

"I only wish to know that one thing, Noct."

"I..." Noctis sighed heavily "Yes." he replied in the end.

"Thank you."

He said nothing after that, and by the time Noct decided to reply enough time had passed that he wasn't sure if Ardyn was asleep already. In the end, he fell asleep wondering how he could ever explain all that had happened to his companion in the present and the time leading up to that. He was no closer to finding the answer.

Noctis woke up to the feeling of something cold and wet under his t shirt. He jumped in panic, letting out what was probably the unmanliest scream in his life, the first five years of it included. As he calmed down enough to assess the situation he found the culprit. A small emerald green frog was running for its life, trying to get as far away from him as possible. Well, he never would've reacted that way if the  _ knew  _ what it was, that was for sure. He went to put on his boots and found another disgruntled amphibian in one of those. He shook it out with a skeptical frown. Finally he was ready to emerge from the tent and when he did, he found Ardyn preparing breakfast by the newly lit fire.

"Hello there, my friend! Did you sleep well?" the man inquired with his usual perfect manners, but something about his eyes told Noctis he was internally  _ giggling. _

"Great." he mumbled. A cup of coffee was pushed into his hands. Ardyn waited, watching, as Noct drank the first few sips. "Morning." he said, much more coherently and much less hatefully.

"Good morning." his companion replied, smiling with satisfaction. "There you go." he handed Noct a plate with that day's breakfast. 

They ate together in silence, and once they were done Noctis was the first to get up and start packing up. Ardyn joined him almost immediately and the King had to wonder if it was only an illusion that they were getting in each other's way a bit less, and cooperating a little more.

Soon they were back on their way, before long seeing the Disc to their left. Noctis remembered there being roads, but they had no such luxury. While the day started with relatively easy terrain before noon they were having to circle around more than they were moving forward. As the end of the day got closer they barely passed the Disc and started climbing again. They spotted a haven around seven and decided to set up camp as it would take them too long to reach another one. They were halfway through preparing for the night when they noticed their chocobos growing restless. They shared a look and quietly went to check on them. It seemed like nothing was there for a long time, but the birds would not settle.

At last, Noctis heard steps in the dark. Heavy, but not those of a giant. Not demonic, he figured, rather those of a large predator. He indicated the direction to Ardyn.

"I'll circle around. You plow right through them." he whispered before warping away, bit by bit so as not to accidentally land on something that would make noise. He succeeded and the next sound he heard was that of a coeurl's roar and steel clashing against claws. He played it by year, throwing his sword where he calculated the animal would be and warping to it to finish it off. He caught a glimpse of Ardyn before the man performed a similar maneuver with a lance and the second coeurl. Not wanting to get in the way, Noct pulled out a gun and used it to distract the predator more than anything. Ardyn didn't need much help anyway, and before long he was approaching Noctis with an easy smile on his face.

"Well, that does it for this small 'attraction'..." he pointed out a little sourly, never a fan of killing wildlife regardless of how bloodthirsty it was. "Shall we head back?"

"I don't know, wanna go for a walk?" Noct teased. Ardyn merely rolled his eyes and started walking back to camp. All the way there Noctis wondered how much easier it was to cooperate when he adopted some of Ignis' strategies. He supposed that was his friend's goal, leaving the rogue element in the middle and taking care of the loose ends himself. When he thought about it like that he felt a little ashamed of always being the one to run head first into any battle, leaving his companions to pick up the mess. He had learned at least a little bit, though, and now it was helping him help Ardyn, which was a good outcome all things considered.

It was distraction alone that made him allow himself to think about his friends again. And he couldn't think about them without wondering where they were now. As much as he tried to avoid the subject and pretend he didn't know, he realized that they probably died shortly after him. He did leave them to face a swarm of daemons, and he did see them briefly in the Beyond. It hurt to even acknowledge it as a distant possibility and most of the time he tried his best to just assume they got out somehow. Now that he was here, however, with a goal and a friend by his side, he allowed himself to entertain the idea that maybe that wasn't such a bad fate. Maybe they were in a good place, too. A better one than Eos the way he'd left it. 

Every time he returned to that in his thoughts he was more upset by it. It was unfair to him, obviously, but that was hardly an issue compared to others. The real question was how things would go on afterwards. Would the people even still have it in them to be happy about the Dawn, when so many had perished and so much was lost? He tried comparing it to the situation he was looking at now, the creation of Lucis on the rubble of Solheim. But no, even from what little he'd seen in his short travel through the present - whatever that word even meant anymore - he was certain this was a completely different scale of destruction. Sure, things could be rebuilt as long as there were at least a few people standing, especially with the daemons gone, but still. He couldn't shake the thought of just how  _ unfair  _ it was. How  _ wrong. _

He looked up sharply as he felt something touch him. It was Ardyn, sitting next to him near the fire, staring into it with his hand on Noct's shoulder. The moment he felt Noctis tense up as he noticed the touch he gave it a small squeeze.

"You carry a heavy burden, my friend." Ardyn's voice was uncharacteristically serious, but almost immediately his usual smile returned. "And I can't help but think you've done your part already." he continued, his eyes never leaving the flames. For a long moment Noct had no idea how to reply to that.

"How do you know?" he settled on.

"For instance, something tells me you wouldn't be here, enjoying the fine company of your distant ancestor, if there were other places for you to be." Finally the older man looked at Noct, neither his face nor voice betraying the weight of the subject.

"I suppose you've got a point there." Ardyn merely hummed in agreement to that. "But yeah, I did my part. As best as I could."

"I'm sure you did." there was something honest and encouraging in his smile now. Noctis sighed.

"No point thinking about it now."

"I suppose not. However should you ever feel the need to discuss it, I'll be here."

"Thanks." They sat in silence for another while, before Noct felt it was time to change the subject. "So, we'll be passing Lestallum tomorrow."

"Seeing as I have no idea what you're talking about, I assume not." Ardyn replied, completely unbothered.

"Let me guess, it doesn't exist yet?" it was a statement more than it was a question.

"I don't think so, unless it was built in the last year or so. Is it a city?"

"Yes. It's always hot and crowded, but really nice. Everyone in the street would greet each other, it was crazy." Noctis described with a fond smile on his face.

"Sounds pleasant."

"It was. And they had the power plant there. You know, at the meteor shard? They used it for power." Ardyn looked straight at him, narrowing his eyes.

"Power, you say?"

"What, you're interested?"

"Of course I am. At the very least, you have to admit it sounds preferable to magitek." the other scoffed.

"I guess. We should stop there on the way back, check the place out. I have no idea how it worked though, so I can't help with that. Wish Ignis was here."

"Yes, you've mentioned him..." Ardyn made a show of recalling the bit of information. "The gentleman with the 'giant stick up his ass', wasn't it?" he inquired politely. Noct snorted.

"That would be him. I did say he only  _ seemed _ like it, though." he defended.

"You did, but can you blame me for remembering the most characteristic bit of your description?" Ardyn replied innocently.

They went to bed soon after, both tired after another day in the saddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it today, lol
> 
> headcanons and notes time!  
> 1\. I literally pulled everything about the Reaper out of my ass. I just hate how he was going to be part of the lore but isn't, so I had to do this. Expect Etro to be somehow involved later on as well, because damn if it wasn't one of my favorite things in the trailers.  
> 2\. things got a bit angsty... there will be tons more fluff before the real shitstorm hits, tho (idk if it's a good thing...)  
> 3\. Ardyn actually got up early to go frog hunting. Go figure.


	10. The Same River

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The more I hear from you, the more I worry about how much has been forgotten in the future."

Once again, Noctis was woken up by the harsh light in his face. Somehow, he was simultaneously cold, he noticed. Cursing internally, he rolled over and tried wrapping himself in his blanket, only to find there was none. A little perturbed, but not so much as to open his eyes, he groaned loudly.

"Ardyn, I swear I will get up and kill you." No response.

Finally, the King opened his eyes only to find the camp was gone. No tent, no chocobos, no fire. Only him and a thin mattress separating him from the cold rocks of the haven. The sun was shining in the sort of sharp, early morning way that provided plenty of light and absolutely no warmth. Noctis blinked a few times, finding it hard to believe what had happened. Sure, he'd slept through a lot before, but having the tent taken away from around him? It seemed like too much.

"Ardyn! I know it was you!" he yelled, more impressed than angry at this point. For a moment there was only silence but then he heard laughter somewhere off to the side and above him.

It took him a few seconds to locate the source. There, up in a huge tree, Ardyn sat comfortably on a thick horizontal branch, his sword still stuck in the trunk a little above his head. The smug bastard had apparently taken most of the blankets with him and made himself a comfortable looking seat. He was smiling like the godsdamned Cheshire Cat.

"WHAT THE HELL?" At that the Prince was unable to keep his cool any longer and burst out laughing.

"Oh how I wish you could see your face!"

"I will murder you. Slowly."

"First you'd have to catch me, I'm afraid." he taunted.

Without thinking Noctis summoned his blade and threw it at the tree. He wasn't even aiming too carefully, if Ardyn wanted war he'd have to just warp away if he needed to. The Prince swiftly phased through and around the weapon, still laughing. As Noct warped over to him he found himself hanging from the sword with nowhere to go from there except Ardyn’s lap. So he could've aimed it a little better.

"Move over." he grumbled. His companion did just that.

"Good morning, Noct." he greeted, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Noctis swiftly jumped onto the branch next to him.

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"I'm afraid that will remain my secret" Ardyn was probably born looking smug, Noct thought, but his face right now was practically begging to be punched. Noct raised an eyebrow.

"You're horrible." he announced.

"I try." he said, handing the King a thermos with coffee. Noctis actually smiled.

"Thank you."

"Not going to kill me after all?" his companion asked, the picture of innocence.

"Nope. It's like you apologized, but better." Ardyn laughed at that, pulling a small bag out of gods knew where and offering it to Noct. The younger man took it hesitantly and peered inside. Candy. "You came prepared." he pointed out.

"Well, I knew you wouldn't let this trick go easily, I had to have something to buy my life with!" the other replied, pulling a piece of chocolate from the bag and popping it into his mouth. Noctis shook his head.

"I didn't even know you packed that."

"Never embark on a journey without sweets, my friend." They both nodded sagely.

"So where is our stuff?" Ardyn leaned back, balanced precariously on the branch, and pointed behind a big rock surrounded by some shrubs.

"All ready to go, too." he said, obviously proud of himself.

"Aw." Noct faked disappointment. "Now I really have no excuse to murder you in your sleep."

"Noct dear, you would have to be awake when I am not to do that."

"Oh shut up."

After sharing some more of the candy they both warped down, each carrying half of the pile of blankets, and stuffed those in their bags. They wasted no time heading out after Ardyn pointed out they had even more difficult terrain to navigate that day. Soon they left the Disc behind for good. Noctis expected to turn north and use the slightly more even ground near future - or was it present - Lestallum, both eager and apprehensive about seeing the area without the city. Instead, Ardyn directed them south.

"What's there?" Noct asked, even though he was already following his companion.

"One might say you are going to get to see a city yet. Uninhabited, but still technically a city."

"Really?" the King didn't wait for an answer and they both focused on picking their way through the rocks and bushes.

Numerous times that day they saw packs of animals moving about. It was a good place for predators, with a lot of hideouts, and more than once they avoided encounters with those thanks to their chocobos' heightened senses. Sadly, predators weren't their only problem. When they tried to navigate around a rather large rock outcrop they found themselves on the outskirts of a large group of anak. They both looked behind them.

"Half an hour at least should we retrace our steps and go around." Ardyn said, obviously wanting to do it anyway but aware it would ruin their plans for the day's journey.

"Not much of a choice." Noct shrugged. "After you?"

Ardyn nodded, jumping off his chocobo. Noctis followed him a few steps behind, waiting to see what he was going to do. As Ardyn summoned a sword and warped forward Noct chose a greatsword and went for the outskirts of the herd. Some of the animals decided to escape, which was the preferred outcome, while others crowded towards them. Getting into close quarters with anak was a dangerous game, their kicks well aimed and strong enough to kill. They were quickly getting surrounded, as much as they tried to disperse the group. Noctis decided it was time for him and Ardyn to try stepping up their strategy. He called his companion's name, hoping he'd be able to figure out what he meant. The other man turned towards him sharply, while swiftly dodging an anak hoof to the head. At least Noct hadn't inadvertently gotten him killed, that was a start.

"We need to make some space here!" he explained, already running at Ardyn. He warped the rest of the way and luckily there was an extended hand waiting for him when he materialized. He grabbed hold of it with his free one, stepped on Ardyn's knee and used the momentum to spin his greatsword in a wide arc. As he came close to going full circle he warped again, launching his weapon right through one of the animals' middle. When he managed to turn around he saw the other man had made use of the maneuver to launch an attack of his own, the distraction allowing him to safely get close to two more anak with a spear. The battlefield suddenly much more spacious, the both of them switched to staying mobile, warping back and forth between the backs and necks of the beasts.

Noctis got so into it that he forgot that he was supposed to be the responsible one and that there weren't three people around waiting to cover him. He only remembered that when he staggered on his feet after warping too much. In a flash Ardyn was next to him, deflecting a kick that would've sent him flying otherwise. Before Noct could react his companion pointed an elevated spot out to him. With a grateful nod, the King warped there to regain his bearings. Ardyn had little trouble holding his own against the three animals that were left, but as soon as he could Noctis rejoined him. Together they made quick work of the anak, though the King was distracted now, thinking about how the Accursed had come to his aid. How he knew he'd needed aid in the first place - he was apparently already pretty well attuned to fighting together, all things considered, at least well enough to remember to keep an eye on his comrade in the heat of battle.

"I owe you." he said with an appreciative nod as soon as they were finished.

"Me? I've done nothing." Ardyn insisted.

"Yeah, right." Noctis was determined to argue.

"But if you insist, how about you fetch the birds for us?" the other man suggested with a confident grin. Noct sighed and turned around. The chocobos were trained to stay where they were left, sure, but the battle took them quite far from that spot. He shook his head, jogging towards them. They didn't even seem glad to see him, instead chirping at him like he was late.

The two travelers set out again, and aside from having to outrun a coeurl they bumped into in an extremely inopportune spot their day was going smoothly. Soon they saw hollow grey masses of buildings on the horizon.

"That the place?" Noct asked.

"That it is. Not very welcoming, but plenty of shelter. I was thinking we might spend the night there."

"I guess. Does it mean we have time to explore?"

"I definitely don't see any harm in doing that."

They were getting close to the ruins when Corvus stopped suddenly.

"KWEH!!" he yelled, ruffling his feathers defensively.

"That's new." Noct commented. "Hey, it's okay boy..." he tried calming the bird and petting his neck only for his hand to be shaken off. "Beasts?" he asked Ardyn.

"It would seem so. Come, let's investigate." the man suggested. 

They split up to avoid walking face first into whatever awaited them. It was Atra's battle cry that alerted Noctis to the fact that the fight had started elsewhere. Corvus tensed up immediately and Noct barely had to indicate he wanted to start moving again for the bird to go charging at the source of the noise. What they found was Ardyn, still on chocobo, fighting off two large basilisks. They were circling the two creatures effortlessly, Atra turning on the spot to avoid claws and beaks, his rider slashing at the creatures with his sword. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, the King had his chocobo join the fray. He struggled to control him and fight at the same time, however, and it was only thanks to Corvus' training and quick reactions that they avoided getting mauled. The battle took a long while, mostly due to all the dodging they had to do. Basilisks were large creatures, but they were fairly agile and could attack from almost any angle. In the end Ardyn felled both the beasts leaving Noctis feeling somewhat inadequate. The feeling only got worse as he noticed his companion was riding towards him with his sword still in hand, while his other rested on his thigh. Doing a double take, Noct confirmed Atra's reins were hanging loose, the ends wrapped on the saddle.

"I will spare you my comments." Ardyn said easily.

"You do that." Noctis frowned. "Where did you learn that?"

"I would think any Prince of the Caelum family would know that." Noct stared at him for a moment.

"Must've missed out. We don't have chocobos, remember?"

"Oh, right." the other man's expression softened. "I apologize."

"What?" the King started, only to give up on the question. "It's okay. You should really teach me that, though." he smiled.

"Certainly." Ardyn replied with a grin. "Now, let's do that exploring you've been looking forward to."

They made it to the city in about twenty minutes and finished setting up camp in the hull of some building well before sundown. Having been there before, the Prince was the one to lead the tour, though they both found the place new and interesting. The main thing Noctis noticed about these ruins as well as what he saw in Insomnia was the scale and the distance between buildings. Both cities were obviously built specifically to maximize open space. They were in the middle of helping each other climb one of the houses, not tall enough to require warping onto, when he finally asked about it.

"Was that how every city in Solheim was like?" Ardyn thought for a moment.

"Most of them, yes. Save for the oldest ones, perhaps." he offered Noct his hand and pulled him up onto a ledge that used to be part of a floor.

"What's the deal with that?" Noct brushed his hands off against his pants before hopping onto a jagged piece of wall.

"What, building cities that are pleasant to live in?" his companion asked sarcastically.

"Okay, you got me. But I always thought Solheim was more like-" Noctis barely stopped himself. "I mean, that it was a military state. Not very big on making people comfortable." He didn't miss the way Ardyn's eyes narrowed as he held his hand for support while hauling himself up to join the King.

"And why would you think that?" Not waiting for Noct to come up with an answer, the older man shrugged it off. "Solheim was a prosperous civilization right until it fell. They were never too invested in the military since they had no real enemies." he explained like he was reading from a book. "The advancements in technology were used mainly to improve the lives of its citizens. It was a peaceful place, most of the time, though parts of it were rather lawless. They prized individuality above all, you see, and would often suffer internal conflict on those grounds. One supposes it is only natural for a country without enemies."

"I had no idea." Noctis could only say. He moved further up the wall and within seconds reached the roof which was, oddly enough, largely intact. Ardyn joined him moments later, gratefully accepting his hand. As he sat next to Noct he looked at him for a long while.

"The more I hear from you, the more I worry about how much has been forgotten in the future." In a rare bout of honesty, the King found himself answering truthfully despite wanting to shield his newfound friend from most of the information he kept.

"Yeah... That's actually the least of my worries."

"And that is what I fear, Noct."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go lovelies <3 
> 
> As usual, headcanons etc:  
> 1\. Solheim was cool. I touched on this before, but let me point something out. The Six apparently never had any issue with Magitek back in Solheim's times. It was Ifrit's betrayal and the subsequent war and Blight that caused the fall of Solheim. So I imagine it was a pretty nice place.  
> 2\. I'm using the word 'anak' the way many antelope names work. Idk if it's correct, it looked like it :P  
> 3\. I was a little conflicted about using the Cheshire Cat reference, but all things considered I love fics that show how much alike modern Insomnia and our world are. It's kind of the game's tagline, and they have ads for Japan Airlines and Audi cars there, dammit. So let's assume Alice in Wonderland is a thing there -shrugs-  
> 4\. Fighting on chocobo was part of Ardyn's royal upbringing and education, as it was for centuries of Caelum kids. It was mostly considered something a Prince Ought To Be Able To Do more than a real necessity, tho. 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone reading and commenting!! <3 Hope the chapter is to your liking :) We're going to have a bit more happening very soon, as the road trip is near its end. Also, I realized I forgot to mention, you guys can find me on tumblr if you want to chat or sth. My FFXV centric blog is impatient-traveler, though it's a sideblog so be aware likes etc will be coming from another one (erato-tia-tuatha). I post any updates regarding possible delays on the fic there, too.
> 
> btw, this fic is now past the 10 chapter mark AND 20k words mark! Yay! :)


	11. Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ardyn would never miss a conversation about himself."

**** "Noct, may I ask you a question?" Noctis frowned at him

"If you feel the need to ask for permission first, then I have a bad feeling about this..." he joked. "What is it?"

"You'd said that your father had passed." Ardyn started delicately. "Am I correct in assuming you were King, then?" Noct opened his mouth to respond - after all it was the one thing he'd been sure of, when everything ended. But then he thought about what his friend would assume from that answer and realized things weren't that simple.

"Technically, yes."

"Technically?"

"I... didn't get to do much ruling, you could say." he explained clumsily. 

"How so?" the other asked, obviously worried. The King decided to come out with it.

"Ever heard of the Providence?" he asked. Ardyn actually gaped at him for a second before bowing deeply.

"I did not know, your Majesty." Noct smothered a groan and shook his head.

"No, please don't do that." To his credit, Ardyn straightened immediately, watching the King closely. "And this destiny thing? It's... not exactly what it seems." The other man seemed to ponder that for a while.

"So... you became King, what then?" he inquired. Noctis sighed.

"I'm actually dead, thanks for asking." Perhaps due to the sheer absurdity of having a conversation like that, the older man laughed, and for whatever reason Noct couldn't help but join in.

"That's an interesting resume you've got there, friend."

"I suppose so."

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't make sense, however. Now that I know why it's  _ you  _ who's here I have to ask: why  _ now?  _ Why  _ me? _ " the King stared at him for a few seconds, wondering what to say to that.

"I told you about the healing." he tried.

"You did, but that was not all, was it? You've said more already, but even if you hadn't it would be hard to believe that to be the cause - it would've been a one-off event, not worthy of revisiting two thousand years after." Seeing no more routes of escape Noctis focused on the rubble and sand lying about the roof in front of him.

"You're part of the Prophecy, too." he said quietly. Ardyn's eyes widened and when the King looked up at him he saw fear in them. They both knew there was one other person mentioned in the Prophecy - the Accursed. Noct desperately wanted to say something to make this better, easier on him, but found he had nothing. Instead, they sat in silence for a long time, watching the sun go down on the ruins of a once beautiful city.

"Well, good thing you're here this time to tell me how to avoid that." Ardyn spoke up suddenly, his voice a ghost of his usual good humor.

"I really wish it were so easy. But what if I told you that would require you to reject the gift?" Ardyn hummed in thought, seemingly considering that.

"Let's get back to camp." he said only.

They got up, climbed down together and returned to where their things were. They fed the chocobos first, ate supper, then prepared for bed. Noctis had been laying in the dark for a good twenty minutes, uncharacteristically awake, before he decided to say something.

"How are we going to find your dad anyway?" Next to him there was a quiet sigh.

"How are you not asleep anyway?"

"Trauma. After this morning."

"He was contacted shortly before we left Insomnia." Ardyn explained patiently. "I have fairly accurate information, so we should find them without issue."

"What do you mean 'was contacted'?"

"It means contact was made. What is it supposed to mean?" the man asked, exasperated.

"Wow. Thanks. You said it like you had someone else do it for you." Noctis deigned to elaborate. There was a short pause as Ardyn processed the question properly.

"That is right. We don't talk much other than in person."

"So you're..." Noct found he had no idea how to finish the question, tried again. "Are you close?"

"Fairly so. Just not big on long distance communications, either of us."

"So it's a 'my people will contact your people' kind of deal?" the younger man chuckled.

"I suppose you could call it that. What brought on the question?" Before Noctis had a chance to respond he continued. "Noct, are you by any chance projecting?"

"...I might be." Ardyn remained silent, waiting. "I mean, we were close. Just..."

"Distant?"

"Yeah."

"I do know the feeling, if that's what you're wondering." the man said calmly.

"It feels strange to talk to someone who knows what it's like."

"It does indeed." for a second the Prince seemed to be considering whether or not to say more. "And I am grateful for the opportunity."

"Me too. I just wish this was the first time around." Noct said, hoping he was making sense.

"You are going to have to tell me, you know." Ardyn pointed out quietly.

"I know." Noctis sounded certain. "But trust me, it can wait and as long as it can - it should." He expected his companion to argue, or at least question him.

"Shall we sleep now?" he heard instead, in the same kind voice he'd grown so used to over just a few days.

"Night." he mumbled into the pillow. 

What was the most surprising was that Noct woke up on his own, and it was a slow, lazy, and even somewhat pleasant process. As soon as he realized that he almost panicked, thinking something must've happened. He opened his eyes to find it was bright, not a pre-dawn haze but full light of a morning, and Ardyn was still laying next to him.

"Ardyn?"

"Yes?" the answer was immediate and sounded very much awake.

"Why aren't you up?"

"Why would I be?" Ardyn asked lazily, still not opening his eyes.

"You're plotting something." Noctis accused.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you. I'm being innocent for once." the older man smiled.

"Yeah, right."

"You don't trust me?" Ardyn feigned hurt.

"You... don't really inspire confidence in the mornings." Noct pretended to be trying to put it lightly.

"Ah, that is exactly the point, however." the other man was, again, exceptionally smug.

"It might be just the fact that it's morning, but you lost me." the King admitted.

"Weren't you surprised? I'm keeping you on your toes, Noct."

"And here I thought you just occasionally slept like a normal person." Noctis grumbled.

"Excuse me, if one of us has sleeping patterns that are a far cry from normalcy it is certainly not me." Ardyn sounded as innocent as he'd sounded guilty just a moment before. 

"Whatever." Noct groaned, giving up on the argument. "Are we getting up anytime soon?" he asked, a hopeful note in his voice begging for the answer to be 'no'.

"We should be. I decided to take this morning slow since we don't have all that far to go, but we still need to reach the others at a reasonable hour."

"Why did I ask?" Noctis grumbled, raising his eyes to the ceiling. After that he got up, determined to stay busy to avoid falling asleep again - that would mean waking up once more and he'd had enough of that for the day.

Ardyn followed soon after and joined in on their morning routine which was by now a considerably smoother operation than it had been the first morning of their trip. They made their way through the rest of the city and reached a steep cliff. Confident in his guide, Noct said nothing seeing the monstrous shape approach, and it soon turned out there was a sort of large elevator there. With an air of confidence betraying the fact that he'd used it before his companion turned on a generator at its side and pressed a ridiculously obvious red button, making the machine ascend.

"Surprised it works." Noctis pointed out, all the while petting Corvus who was prancing nervously under him, distrustful of the creaky metal contraption. Atra seemed mildly perturbed, but much calmer, probably a sign of having used the lift before.

"So am I, to be honest. We try to do maintenance on it occasionally, but the real wonder is the power supply. It might run out at any second." Ardyn explained calmly.

"You might want to save those comments for when we're already up." Noct warned.

"Why? Are you afraid?" this time the older man's voice was openly mocking.

"Shut up."

The elevator ended up not plunging them to their doom and they safely got on solid ground. After that it was a few hours of steady trot through sparse vegetation until they saw a faint silhouette of a blocky airship in the distance. Noctis ignored how it reminded him of Niflheim dropships and looked at his companion. Atra let out an excited squawk, picking up speed on his own, and Ardyn laughed. It felt like coming home, somehow. Hearing the bird's call a group of people emerged from the camp. They nearly barrelled into them, especially Atra barely allowing his rider to stop him. 

One man stood in front of the group, and Noct's first impression was that he resembled an old movie star. Not the perfectly groomed actors of many decades before, but a more recent, aging but charming kind. His hair was a medium warm brown, definitely more groomed than he'd ever seen Ardyn's, but still a little long and a bit messy. His eyes were almost the same color as his son's though. He was wearing a jacket in Lucian black and gold, its style something Noctis would've expected to see in the Crown City of his times, and brown pants. There was definite similarity between his and Ardyn's faces, but it wasn't so striking that it'd make them immediately recognizable as family. What did have that effect was the overall aura the man exuded, the confident, smug and slightly cocky look. Noctis was pretty sure if he saw this person anywhere or anytime else he'd still immediately think of Ardyn.

As he pondered that, calming his chocobo and dismounting, he watched his companion jump off his bird without really stopping, grinning like a madman. The two men embraced for a short few seconds before stepping away from each other and exchanging more formal greetings. In the brief moment before he had to say something Noct noticed the look in Ardyn's father's eyes was familiar. He'd seen it on his own father: fond, loving, and proud. It made him feel better to realize that despite the distance, they did share a similar bond anyway.

He stepped forward, a soldier taking Corvus' reins from him with a smile. Both him and Ardyn's dad bowed curtly.

"Your Highness." Noct said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Noctis."

"Likewise." they were both smiling which made the tired greeting sound genuine for a change. Ardyn put his hand on Noct's shoulder.

"Come, let's get settled." he said.

They took their chocobos and went about taking care of them, then unpacking and settling into one of the large tents that made up the camp. It was not only more spacious but a rather higher standard than their light, two person one. It even had what could pass for beds if one squinted just right. Ardyn had announced they'd spend two days there, which compared to the days before seemed like a vacation. They were about done when another soldier - Noct couldn't help but notice his companion seemed to know all of their names - came by to invite them to join the others.

They left almost immediately and found nearly all of the camp's inhabitants gathered close together. There were nearly thirty people there and a few more could be seen standing watch on the outskirts. Everyone seemed to sit on whatever they happened upon: chairs, logs and supply crates. A large fire burned nearby. They shared food and drink - non-alcoholic, Noctis noticed, thinking it made sense for what was technically a military outpost - as well as stories. It was a bit overwhelming to the King but he soon realized the attention wasn't focused on him aside from when he wanted it to, which allowed him to relax.

"So, you've been pretty quick to jump into this Royal Arms deal." Ardyn's father pointed out to him during the evening. Noct considered it.

"I guess I was. I don't have an explanation." he said. The man laughed at that.

"I'm just glad he's not alone."

"Father, please have the decency to wait until I'm actually away before you gossip behind my back." Ardyn commented.

"Or, my son, you could have the decency to pretend you can't hear us."

"He could. But he doesn't." Noctis pointed out.

"Thank you very much." his companion scoffed.

"Welcome."

"I have no further questions, it's obvious you can hold your own." Ardyn's father said, clapping Noct on the shoulder.

"Really? Has your son been known to scare people away?" the King asked conspiratorially.

"That is growing too much." Ardyn complained. "I care not for your comments."

"If you didn't care you wouldn't be listening." Noctis playfully punched his arm.

"Ardyn would never miss a conversation about himself." the oldest man said, making his son huff in annoyance.

"So that's how it is? I would never have brought him if I knew you'd be plotting against me."

"Well, it's too late now, Ardyn. Be glad you're not staying longer."

"Maybe you'll even reconsider being an ass to me after you see how much worse it could be..." Noctis said. Instead of coming up with a riposte Ardyn looked at both of them for a long moment.

"How glad I am to have you, ruining any delusions of grandeur I might ever develop."

"Someone has to keep you in check, son." Ardyn's father winked at Noct who could swear it was identical to how his companion did it.

"I take that back." Ardyn made a show of turning away from them and animatedly joining the conversation between a few of the soldiers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone please give a warm welcome to Ardyn's Papa ;P
> 
> notes:  
> 1\. okay so I'm being a little creative with how Lucian royalty works, right? Fyi, the ruler and their spouse are called King and Queen, always (instead of a queen's husband being a prince due to the word 'king' being more respectful than 'queen') Basically it's a non-sexist version of Earth's royalty lmao. Still, the ruler is referred to as "your Majesty", while their spouse only gets a "your Highness".  
> 2\. Ardyn's dad is presh. This is it, this is the headcanon. I have nothing to add.  
> 3\. I still refer to Noctis as "King" here and not Ardyn's dad because that's how I've been referring to him all this time. Hope it's not confusing this way ^^;
> 
> Many thanks for all of the comments! You guys keep me inspired, thank you!! <3


	12. Machines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're impossible."
> 
> "And yet I exist..."

Noctis would later swear the sound he made was a scream. In reality, however, it was very much a  _ squeal,  _ and an exceptionally high-pitched one at that. He jumped upwards in an uncoordinated mess of limbs and fell, straight to his doom. In this case doom was cold water, and he quickly emerged spitting and yelling. As soon as the first panic subsided he realized he'd fallen from the dock on what seemed to be a small lake. He also realized that the entire camp was gathered on that dock and immediately around it, laughing like they'd never seen anything funnier in their lives. The mattress taken, presumably along with his sleeping body, out of his bed was situated right at the end of the dock and right next to it stood, or rather attempted to remain upright through fits of laughter, Ardyn. Without thinking Noct splashed him with all his might, and perhaps a little help from a quickly summoned shield. The man attempted to phase away but was too late. 

"I deserved that!" he yelled back, still laughing and dripping with lake water.

"Of course you did you-!" Noctis paused, realizing that his friend's father was also in the group. Maybe not the best idea to curse at the Prince at the moment.

"Come on, let's get you out of there." Ardyn said, bending down and offering Noct his hand. The King seriously considered pulling him in, but figured he'd doused him with enough cold water to count as sufficient revenge.

With a startled yelp, Ardyn collapsed right onto Noctis, plunging them both underwater for a shocked moment. Oh, so that was the blue blur that he thought he saw behind him for a split second. True enough, when they managed to emerge Ardyn's father was standing where his son had just moments ago. 

"Betrayal! Disgrace! It was a plot! I demand satisfaction!" the older of the swimming duo yelled indignantly. Noct splashed him to shut him up and the Prince was left sputtering, trying to get rid of the water in his face.

"I like you." Ardyn's father pointed out, offering his hand to Noctis first.

They were pulled out without issue and only to minor complaints by Ardyn about his father betraying him in favor of the newcomer, and them both being plotting bastards.

"Furi!" someone called and Ardyn's father turned around to accept two huge towels that he then handed to the soaked companions.

They were escorted back to camp, given more towels and when they finished changing into dry clothes there were large mugs of hot, sweet tea waiting for them. Soon they were sitting next to each other on Ardyn's bed, seeing as Noct's mattress was left outside to dry, drinking and shivering slightly.

"Okay. I admit." the King stated after he felt his brain thaw a little. "You really outdid yourself. Congratulations." The other man tried bowing which didn't come out very well seeing as they were both wrapped in blankets.

"I trust you weren't expecting any less from me." he said.

"It was a real shot in the knee though." Noctis smirked.

"Worth it."

"No, I don't mean that. I mean that you've raised the bar so high, you can never hope to top this. It's over. You've failed." Ardyn chuckled, looking smug as ever.

"Do not worry, my King, you will find that I am an infinitely creative man when I want to be." he announced. Noct snorted, which led to him coughing. Immediately there was a hand placed gently on his back. "Be careful, we don't want you getting sick."

"Wow. You really fail at being cruel."

"I suppose there's a limit to how perfect one can be..." Ardyn replied, almost convincingly pretending he actually thought of himself that highly. "Are you really going to be alright?"

"If I get sick and die it's gonna be your fault." Noctis pointed out grimly.

"That is why I'm not letting that happen." his friend said simply, putting his hand on Noct's mug to make sure his tea was still sufficiently warm. The King sighed good-naturedly.

"You're impossible."

"And yet I exist..."

They spent the next hour mostly in silence interrupted by occasional slurping and sniffling and shuffling of blankets. By the time Ardyn's father paid them a visit they were mostly back on their feet.

"Alive still?" the man asked by way of greeting. They both nodded.

"Despite your attempts on my life I survive another day." Ardyn said dramatically. His father huffed a laugh.

"Are you boys going to be joining the hunting team?" he inquired. Noctis looked questioningly at his companion.

"Oh no way father. You know full well that I only accept scouting duty."

"Scouting?" Noct interjected.

"Yes. We go out scavenging magitek, mostly, but whatever useful you manage to find will do." Ardyn's father explained.

"I am quite good at it, if I do say so myself." Ardyn pointed out.

"There's a reason you must say it yourself, son."

"He got you there." Noctis chuckled. "Okay. Let's do that." The older man left them with a nod and a quick instruction to meet up in half an hour. As he watched him leave, Noctis thought of something. "What's your dad's name?"

"Why?"

"I heard someone calling him Furi on the dock. Wondered what it stood for." Ardyn nodded thoughtfully.

"It's Furisto." Suspicions confirmed, Noct nodded.

"So I'm guessing you got your name from his side of the family?" his companion smiled knowingly, catching on to Noctis' train of thought.

"I did indeed."

"Thought so. Ardyn doesn't sound like what I'd expect a Caelum to name their kid."

"Well, technically my mother did consent, so..." Ardyn chuckled.

"Yeah, but you get what I mean."

"I do." It was another few minutes before Noct continued with his questions.

"Your father's magic is blue. Then your mother's..."

"It is as well. So is yours." his friend confirmed with a small smile.

"Well, yeah. You know what I'm getting at though. Why isn't yours?"

"I'm afraid I have no answer to that. Nobody knows."

"Didn't they freak out about it?"

"They did when I was a child, presumably much more than I was ever made aware of. They'd given up on it since, however. It's just the same in every other way, so I suppose they felt they could let it go."

"Cool." Noct said, just a placeholder remark he'd grown used to using around Prompto when he had nothing more to add. Ardyn apparently found it funny. A few seconds later he spoke up again, sounding less certain.

"Do you think it has to do with the Prophecy?" Noctis thought about it.

"It might. It might be something completely different, though." he shrugged. "I mean, I'm in the Prophecy too and mine's normal."

"Ah. Thank you for calling me an abnormality, Noct." 

"Wha- Wait I never said that!" Ardyn laughed playfully.

"Come, we should get going so we won't be late."

Noctis supposed it was best to let Ardyn set the pace of their conversations for a while, seeing as he'd given him more than enough grim subjects to think about recently. He smiled, nodded and got up, stretching and yawning. They left the blankets and exchanged the extra layers of clothing for short coats before heading out. The scouting group turned out to include Ardyn's father and five other men and women. They all mounted their chocobos. Ardyn's father and one woman were riding yellow ones instead of Caelum black. Noct asked Ardyn about it on the way, as soon as he caught him reasonably far away from anyone else who could overhear.

"He's had the bird for years, she was bred in his family's lands." the man answered.

"And what about the other one?"

"Oh? She's also from there, she's actually my father's Shield." Noctis frowned for a second before processing the answer.

"I meant the bird, but I suppose that answers the question." His companion laughed.

"Well, you did not specify and I figured that would be the more informative answer." he explained a little sheepishly, obviously a bit embarrassed for accidentally comparing his father's friend to a bird.

"Yeah, right." Noct pretended not to believe him.

They rode for less than an hour before reaching what looked like a rather large garbage dump. It was made up of vehicle parts and other scrap metal, mostly, and looked like it had been scavenged multiple times before. Everyone dismounted and left their birds in a group nearby. They didn't tie them up and Noctis decided he didn't want to know why they needed them to remain mobile. He supposed the answer had many teeth and large claws. They split up into pairs, looking for salvage.

With Ardyn's guidance Noct was soon able to tell apart the different kinds of magitek components they found here and there. The most prized were the power cells and batteries, since the one thing they had absolutely no way of circumventing since Solheim's fall was the lack of power supplies. He asked questions every now and then, soon learning that the real reason magitek technology was impossible to recreate was the destruction of all plants able to create that power and the loss of the people who could build more.

"So how does it work, anyway?" he asked when he was sure nobody else was within earshot. Ardyn gave him a skeptical look.

"You can recognize magitek technology but don't know that?"

"Let's just say we weren't the side using it." Noctis said sourly.

"Whatever happened to 'know thine enemy'?" his friend chastised.

"I don't know, I had more pressing problems?"

"Should I assume your knowledge amounts to nothing, then?" he asked, his tone different now, open and devoid of judgement, simply establishing where he should start explaining.

"Yeah, do that." Noct chose not to mention what he learned in Zegnautus, unsure where daemons came into the equation in Ardyn's times.

"Magitek is simply the term given to artificial magic, whatever it may be. The attempts to recreate magic reach further in time than natural magic itself, at least the kind we possess. It was in ages long past that people noticed the existence of elemental deposits, and thought to control those. They weren't successful until much later, of course, but it's important to note us magic wielders weren't the first to think of it. After the use of elemancy was granted to some humans a few of them offered to be used as basis for figuring out how the power worked. I hear the experiments weren't harmful, if you're wondering." he winked at Noctis. "That allowed the brilliant minds of that age to build power plants in places with especially rich energy deposits and use those to create power supplies." for a second Ardyn paused to quickly point at the spot where it would be best to break the connection on a piece of machinery Noct was slowly prying loose. "The downside is, obviously, that the energy needs to be stored and transported in physical form, thus creating a whole nother slew of issues that had to be solved. In the end Solheim had their entire infrastructure built around it." Next to him, the King fell backwards and onto the floor, the piece of salvage he'd been working on still clutched in his hands while simultaneously pressing him into the ground. "Oh dear." Ardyn chuckled, already helping him up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Noctis muttered. "Thanks. Where do I put it?" 

His companion directed him to where the group had the various pieces laid out, separated into different kinds, while hauling a small pile of tech himself.

"Did I clear things up for you at all?" he inquired, lowering his voice though the question itself didn't hint at what they'd been talking about.

"Yes, thank you." Noct nodded. "I might catch you with more questions later, but I think I need to sleep on this." Ardyn inclined his head politely.

"Feel free to do so, my friend."

They got back to scavenging for a short while more, but as the limit of what they could carry back was reached quickly they returned to camp less than two hours later. It was still early evening and after a quick meal and a little rest they were invited to join a small group of soldiers sparring. Neither of them felt like fighting when they arrived, so they sat at the sidelines enjoying the relaxed banter between contestants and their audience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:B
> 
> Notes:   
> 1\. Ardad's powers are basically equal to those of the Kingsglaive. He can warp, he can materialize his weapons at will, and that's basically it. He cannot phase (no avoiding damage by ghosting through the weapon) nor use elemancy. He's basically like a Swordsworn plus warping lol.  
> 2\. His group is mostly made up of people he'd been working with for years, and they're pretty close. A select few oldest friends there are on first name basis with him  
> 3\. In case you've been wondering about the weather, it's late spring-early summer. Generally you can run around in short sleeves but seeing as the boys had been soaked and that they'd be working with metal pieces with probably jagged edges, they went to work fully clothed :P  
> 4\. Okay, so Ardyn's name doesn't fit the Latin theme of the Caelum family, that we all noticed. I wanted to have an explanation for that, so I decided it was his dad that named him. Wanting to keep with the dead language theme though, I went for Old High German :P Check it out: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/furisto#Old_High_German I don't have the rest of his name figured out, since he took his wife's name and is therefore now Furisto Lucis Caelum, but I suppose it was something Old High German/proto Nordic sounding. Enjoy linguistic nerdiness.  
> 5\. Since I decided to go with Ardyn's magic/Armiger being a different color from birth instead of due to corruption, I felt it would be unrealistic not to address that. Idk WHY it's like that though, yet. We'll all find out together! ;)   
> 6\. More Solheim theorizing! I wanted there to be a good reason why the tech couldn't be restored easier/earlier, even with Ardyn's knowledge of the subject.  
> 7\. Wow this is a LOT of notes for one chapter omg :3


	13. Parasomnia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's nice to not have to kill anything."

After a while of sitting and watching the fighters they were once again joined by Ardyn's father. He sat between and slightly behind them without a word. The longer they stayed like this, the more Noctis felt like there was an angry cactuar behind him instead of a friend's family member. He'd grown quiet and stopped participating in the banter due to how awkward it felt to have this silent presence at his back.

"Father, you're scaring him." Ardyn pointed out all of a sudden. Noct turned to him with a startled expression.

"I'm pretty sure you did that, Ardyn." Furisto pointed out calmly. 

"I'm not scared." Noctis piped up.

"Of course you're not." the other two replied in almost perfect unison.

"Hey Furi, you up for a fight?" one of the older soldiers called from the makeshift ring.

"It's going to have to wait I'm afraid, I'm busy embarrassing my son." the man replied easily.

"You're doing a poor job of it." Ardyn huffed.

"I’m merely waiting for my turn. You were doing so well yourself I didn't want to interrupt." his father shot back, making Noct laugh. He regretted it immediately as the other two men's attention returned to him.

"Don't mind me." he tried to deflect.

"That reminds me." Furisto did a deliberately bad job of pretending he was thinking hard about something. "Are you sure you're not ill? After such an awakening..."

"I'm quite certain only his pride was wounded, father." Ardyn interjected before Noctis had a chance to open his mouth.

"Says the guy who squawked in the water like a brooding chocobo..." Noct replied.

"If I recall correctly, you're the one who  _ screeched. _ " 

"If it makes you get along better, you both made equal fools of yourselves." Furisto declared. 

"We're getting along perfectly fine." his son pouted. At that, Noctis saw an opening for some measure of revenge for past slights.

"You're pouting." he pointed out.

"Ah, dear Noct, but unlike  _ certain people _ I'm perfectly fine with doing it." as on-point as the riposte was, Ardyn smiled while saying it, which given that he was still attempting to keep his pout produced a rather hilarious case of duck face. The other two laughed. Ardyn pouted more intensely. 

"But you know what?" Noct was determined to score a point after all. "You're not cute at all." Ardyn's father raised an eyebrow hearing it.

"Boys, is there something you haven't told me?" he asked. On second thought, Noctis realized how that must've sounded. He resisted the urge to facepalm.

"There are a lot of things you do not know, father." Ardyn replied philosophically, not loosing his cool. Noct decided he rather admired that.

"I suppose there are." he looked back up at where the others were sparring. "Hey, Pas!" the man who had spoken to him earlier turned around. "I'm ready when you are."

"Not embarrassing the Prince anymore?" the man laughed, while Furisto got up and walked onto the field.

"My work here is done." Furi replied with a satisfied smirk. Behind him, Ardyn sighed and rolled his eyes.

As the men prepared to spar Noctis shifted forward, interested. Ardyn's father materialized a glaive and with a knowing smile Pas did the same. Noct's interest was piqued - he'd always enjoyed watching his father's soldiers spar with their glaives. The fighting styles he observed now were mirror images of each other, a sure sign the two had been fighting together for years. The men weren't going easy on each other by any stretch of imagination, but there was a practiced restraint to their fight, making sure they never came close to doing actual harm. Furisto was holding back on the warping, too, presumably to level the playing field. Around the ring, a few of the soldiers stopped by to watch.

"You seem interested." Ardyn pointed out, almost scaring Noctis.

"I guess. Used to watch people spar with glaives a lot." the King shrugged.

"Well, we can always try it." his friend suggested. It seemed like a revolutionary idea, somehow, one that Noct never would've come up with himself.

"We could." he replied carefully.

"Up to you, Noct. I certainly wouldn't mind a fight where I don't end up slaughtering animals for once." The way he said it, Noctis could almost hear Prompto in his head.

"It's nice to not have to kill anything." he quoted absent-mindedly. Oblivious to the hidden meaning, Ardyn nodded in agreement.

"Definitely. So, how about it?"

"Okay. As soon as they're done." the decision was made on the spot.

They both watched the rest of the fight with interest, occasionally exchanging thoughts on what they saw. It was sometimes almost as enlightening to stand on the sidelines as it was to practice oneself, Ardyn pointed out. Noctis found it hard to disagree. After a long while the two men in the ring stopped fighting at once, looking each other in the eye and nodding. It seemed it was clear to them what the result was despite the King having no idea who won. He supposed they must've had a system worked out for it. Noct and Ardyn both got up and entered the ring while Furisto and his soldier lingered nearby, obviously wanting to see what would unfold.

"Weapons?" Noctis asked.

"My, I hadn't thought of that..." something about Ardyn's thoughtful frown was fake. "How about all of them?" Noct snorted.

"Set  _ some  _ limits, will you. Sword, daggers and lance?" he suggested.

"Very well. Warping?"

"Hell yes." Noctis grinned. He'd sparred with all sorts of weapons before, with Gladio and others, but his opponents would always stick to one weapon for the fight, not to mention none of them could also warp. The only time he'd fought someone whose abilities matched his own was... the last time he fought Ardyn. He chose not to dwell on that though and focused on the excitement of testing his skill.

"We should probably set some limits to that as well..." Ardyn said. "Within the ring?" Noct shook his head.

"That'd be boring. Within camp?" he suggested instead. His friend smiled wickedly.

"I like the way you think, Noct." he turned to his father. "Can you call out the start?"

Both him and Noctis moved to the opposing ends of the ring, still weaponless but thinking up strategies and deciding on what to attack with first. As their stances shifted to accommodate that, each quickly figured out the other's plan and changed their own. Still, Furisto remained silent. They'd been eyeing each other for a good three minutes before he finally relented.

"Go!" he shouted and the two launched at each other immediately. Noctis went for sword first, bearing down on Ardyn who chose lance. Reduced to blocking the King's heavy hits, the Prince threw his weapon and warped after it. When Noct got to him he was met with a furious onslaught of daggers, one which he couldn't match for speed. He switched to his lance and parried, and after a longer exchange was finally able to knock his opponent off-balance. However, when he dove in for a strike it was blocked by a sword. For a split second their eyes locked and they both grinned. This was going to be fun indeed. Noctis threw his lance up, but as soon as he materialized in the air next to it he saw Ardyn was nowhere to be found. Fishing for an alternative to plunging head first into the ground, he quickly grabbed hold of a dagger and threw it sideways, missing a tent by an inch. He was just about to warp after it when a lance swished right by his ear. He recovered quickly, but the warp ended with him rolling on the grass, scrambling to get up before another attack. He was in the precarious moment during standing up when he felt magic gather behind his back. He rolled out of the way of the sword that descended and bit deep into the ground.

The King managed to catch sight of Ardyn just as he abandoned his weapon into the nether and warped again after a quickly thrown dagger. Determined to show he wouldn't be pushed around, Noct used his sword to warp to a nearby tree, where he could get a better view of the battlefield. He only needed a split second to see his opponent, but that wasn't what he was looking for. His eyes tracked the faint glint of a dagger in the air and he used his lance to warp where he thought where the trajectory would lead. He was right and he materialized right on top of Ardyn who scrambled to defend. Not giving him a moment to switch weapons, the King slashed with his sword, wiser now to how he could use it to get through his friend's defences. It took a moment for the Prince to be able to carve enough leeway for himself to call upon another weapon but finally he did and two swords met. Ardyn's thinner, more delicate and adorned with intricate patterns and Noctis' Engine Blade clashed repeatedly, neither of them gaining ground. In the end Noctis was the one to warp a short ways backwards to gain more leverage, only to come out of it poised to attack thin air.

They both warped around for a while, chasing each other all over the camp, though it was impossible to say who was on the run and who was giving chase. They kept anticipating each other's movements, getting somewhere with just moments to spare, but neither getting caught. As their magic reserves were close to running dry they finally met again on the ring where they had started, giving the fight their all as they knew there would be no warping to safety for either. They switched weapons quickly, never letting the other fully adjust before going for another. It was becoming abundantly clear that unless they went for killing blows - and even then it was uncertain who would live - the fight could drag on until they both collapsed. Somehow it worked out perfectly. One moment they were slashing at each other furiously, the next their swords met again in a temporary stalemate and as their eyes met they both knew it was time to stop. They pretty much collapsed where they stood right away, not caring where or how they landed.

They barely noticed hands helping them up and taking them to their tent, both high on adrenaline and completely exhausted. Seeing as Noct's mattress hadn't been returned to its rightful place yet, they were both deposited sideways on Ardyn's bed, their legs propped up on the hollow skeleton of Noctis' one. They grinned like madmen at the roof and neither noticed when they fell asleep.

* * *

The King found himself sitting on his throne. He looked around slowly, thoughtfully. The throne room looked just as he remembered it - pristine and empty. He got up slowly, noting he felt like he'd been stuck in the same position for ages. Thinking he'd do something with himself, but without any clear idea what it would be, he descended the stairs and left the room. He breathed easily despite being tired and everything around him seemed perfectly  _ right _ . 

He wandered the halls at a slow pace, taking in the tranquil atmosphere of his surroundings. He saw no reason to wonder why the place was empty or what time it was, or what he had been doing before: everything fit, nothing needed to be questioned. Finally, his stroll took him to the Crystal's chamber. The plates usually keeping the sacred object hidden from view were open and its unearthly purple glow filled the room. It was a peaceful sight, soothing to his mind. He felt he could stand there forever, just taking it all in. He raised his hand curiously and examined it in the half dark. It was the hand of an adult - not old yet but clearly one who had lived, seen and done many things. For a split second it seemed alien but then he remembered that that's what it was meant to be like. What it had been for a long time. 

Suddenly his ears caught the faintest whisper, the trace of presence. He scanned the room again only to see a figure slumped in the corner. It looked to be a man, though it barely looked human with how broken it seemed. It was off, wrong,  _ misplaced. _ Noctis thought he recognized him, but couldn't place it. For some reason it seemed like he'd killed him before. He strained to hear what the person was saying.

"Not him..." came the quiet, fervent whisper from a throat screamed raw. " _ Not him. _ "

The King turned abruptly to see the faint blue glow, the disappearing snow white tail of a fox. He looked back to the man in front of him for a moment, trying to decide. Then he turned on his heel and ran. He kept seeing the glow in front of him as the creature turned corner after corner, but couldn't catch up.  _ 'Carbuncle' _ he thought, and the name felt old. Finally he came to a tiny chamber in the dungeon he never even knew he had. The place was built from raw stone, with a low ceiling, damp air and moisture gathering and slowly dripping down the walls. The fox creature sat in the opposite end, right next to a pair of rusted shackles. Its body still gave off its blue glow, but the tiny horn on its forehead was a shining point of red. In the middle of the cell sat a white shiba.

" _ She wants him back"  _ the dog said.

* * *

Noct woke with a start, noticing his surroundings were nearly dark save for the light of a lamp that was barely enough to navigate by. He was tired and uncomfortable, something hard digging into his shins. A quick inspection proved his upper half was laying on a bed, while his feet rested on the metal frame of another one, without a mattress. Slowly, everything started to make sense. He could feel Ardyn's presence next to him and wondered if he could get up without waking him. When he turned to look, however, he found the man staring right back at him.

"I think we both woke at once." his friend replied to the unsaid question. Noctis grimaced.

"Couldn't they have come up with something better?" he complained.

"I suppose not. They're soldiers, I presume they are used to sleeping like that themselves." Ardyn joined in on the grumbling. He got up and attempted to stretch, his back returning to its usual unbent state with an audible pop. Noct did the same and without a word went looking for his long lost mattress. When he returned with it he found his friend in bed already, looking through his notebook. Soon he was in bed himself, reaching for the lamp's off switch. As darkness took over the tent he silently prayed there were at least a few hours till dawn still.

"Are you going to be alright?" Ardyn asked suddenly. Caught off guard, Noctis wanted to ask what it was about, to question, to argue.

"Yeah." he said instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo boy! I really enjoyed writing this one! Not that I don't usually enjoy them, but this one really flowed. Which is odd because fight scene? ;P
> 
> Headcanon time!  
> 1\. Pas - full name Passeris, latin for sparrow. Lucian from a lesser noble house, and Furi's old friend.  
> 2\. I firmly believe Noctis used the Kingsglaive's training grounds often, and occasionally sparred with the Glaives themselves seeing as they were the only other people who could warp. They stick to one weapon type though, so the thing with Ardyn was a new experience. Just imagine 16 year old Noct sitting on the stairs at the Glaives', watching them train and listening to them talk like he wasn't there. The Glaives never really got close to the Prince, but didn't reject him either - they settled into a routine where they pretended they didn't notice him most of the time and that was how he liked it best.  
> 3\. I am not explaining the vision, obviously, but I will say that Present!Ardyn is not enjoying seeing his father again. That's who he was talking about.
> 
> Thank you everyone for all your wonderful words in the comments!! I am enjoying this fic immensely, and your response is making an already great experience a million times better! Seriously, I cannot thank you enough for your continued support <3 Keep em coming, I love hearing what you think!  
> Also, update on the red magic thing. I do know what it's about now, and it'll play an important part later on. I want to point out the input some of you had about it was invaluable and gave me some great food for thought <3   
> See ya tomorrow! ;)


	14. Sleepwalkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I sometimes have those. Dreams." there was a weird pause there. "Last time I had one, things didn't go so well."

Noctis woke up, immediately sensing it was far too early. He opened one eye and looked around. It must've been early morning, judging from the light, and there were only faint sounds of movement around the camp coming through the tent's thin walls. He was absolutely exhausted, but as soon as his eyes were opened the dream, or vision from the night before took up all of his attention. He'd had no trouble falling back asleep immediately afterwards, but now it wouldn't leave him alone. He had no doubt it was some sort of premonition, sadly. In nearly all of his dreams, whether they included the tiny fox creature or not, he knew that he was dreaming. The only exception have been things that came true later, whether literally or in some convoluted way. He'd learned from his friends years before that it was the opposite of what most people were like - only occasionally aware they were dreaming. Still, what this one  _ meant  _ eluded him. He'd been older in it, like the day he died. He saw Ardyn, and despite not being able to get a good look he was convinced he'd looked the way he did in the end as well. Carbuncle was at least a known element in his dreams, but him running away from Noct felt odd. And Pryna... he remembered all too well the last time he'd dreamed of her and what that signified.

He had no idea how long he'd been laying there, thinking, when he heard something near the entrance. He sat up to see Ardyn's father standing there. The first thing he thought about was how long the man had been there, and the second thing on his mind was getting embarrassed.

"Uh, morning." he said, completely forgetting he was supposed to be the lower ranking noble here. Furisto just smiled.

"Morning." he replied easily before looking away from Noctis. "Looks like my son is finally catching up on sleep." he sighed. Noct followed his line of sight to Ardyn's bed and was surprised to notice his friend was indeed asleep. It was the first time he saw that, he realized, which was probably strange given that they'd been traveling for a while now.

"Yeah."

"I must thank you for getting him so exhausted yesterday. He'd be up before dawn to play tricks on you otherwise, I'm sure." Noct thought about it for a moment, before realizing what the other man was hinting at.

"You mean he hasn't been sleeping enough?" That earned him a long, searching look.

"Not at all. I suppose it's much easier for me to see, I've known him a bit longer" Furi joked. Noctis looked at Ardyn again, trying to determine if he could see anything of the sort. He was so much calmer, happier than he'd ever known him before that it seemed to be the only thing he noticed, but... The more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe his companion did look more tired lately than before their journey began. With that came a strange feeling of being reminded of how his friends would take care of him on their trip. He suddenly felt bad about failing to do the same when he was the one accompanying a Prince to the Tombs.

"I'm sorry. I should've paid attention." he said quietly. Ardyn's father shrugged it off with an easy smile.

"How could you have known? You don't have enough experience with him to know when he is hiding something, and I know better than most that my son is a stubborn one indeed."

"I guess I'll just have to keep a closer eye on him from now on." Noctis decided.

"I'll be in your debt." the man said seriously. "Well, we should leave him be, but if you want to get up there's breakfast ready. I actually came to fetch you in case either of you was interested." he smoothly changed the subject. Noct was painfully aware that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep now anyway, so he nodded.

"I'll be outside in a minute then." he replied. "Thank you."

Furisto only nodded and left. The King got up as quietly as he could from the creaky bed and got ready for the day. He wasn't sure if they'd be leaving that day or the next, but there was no way to ask at the moment, so he assumed he'd have some time later and didn't waste time on getting dressed for traveling. When he exited the tent he was quickly approached by one of the soldiers who were heading in the same direction and taken to where the food was. As they were getting their portions and settling in the informal meeting area where everyone seemed to gather during downtime he remembered the woman helping him out was the one Ardyn said was his father's Shield.

They weren't done with their breakfast yet when Ardyn joined them, sitting between them with a single carrot. Noctis eyed the vegetable dubiously.

"Ah, I see you two are getting along." he noted cheerfully. 

"Morning, your Highness." the woman said ignoring his remark.

"Morning, herbivore." Noct grumbled, pretending to be absolutely disgusted.

"Spoils of war!" Ardyn declared proudly, waving the vegetable in the air.

"Who did you fight for it?" Noctis sneered. "The ground?" His friend scoffed.

"I stole it."

"His Highness likes to raid the kitchen while everyone is busy with breakfast." the woman explained. "It makes him miss actual food, and then raid the place once more when we're all done."

"Yes, thank you Volpes, that will be enough of your helpful input." Ardyn tried to cover.

"At your service." the woman replied with a smile.

"Who would've thought, the Prince is a thief..." Noct laughed.

"I resent that remark." his companion said, then focused his attention back on the carrot. "Also I should probably not associate with barbarians like you."

"So eating veggies is now some sign of culture?" the King asked

"Has it ever  _ not _ been?"

"Whatever, as long as you let me steal from your plate when there's something good on it." Ardyn sighed heavily.

"Fine. Truce." he ate his carrot in silence for a while. "Volpes, dear, any idea what my father is up to on this fine day?"

"We'll be heading out to look for more promising salvage spots soon, Highness."

"Ah, I'll leave you to it, then."

"What were those, anyway?" Noctis felt it was safe to ask. "The place we were at yesterday, I mean."

"We're not quite sure." his companion replied.

"Sometimes we find stuff in the cities, or wrecks that obviously were shot down or broke. Sometimes it's just piles of... things, though." Volpes stepped in. "Something must've made them stop there and never take off again." she glanced at Ardyn, who nodded slightly. "Occasionally it'll look like someone was trying to set up camp but never finished. It's... unsettling." Noct was on the verge of saying something before realizing he should keep that private.

"Interesting." he said instead.

"I'll take that, thank you." Ardyn announced cheerfully next to him, pulling his plate out of his hands. The only thing left there was a bit of some sort of salad that had been given to Noctis despite his protests. Volpes laughed.

"You know you could still get some food like everyone else, Highness?"

"Of course I do."

"But that wouldn't be fun, right?" she asked "You really are your father's son."

"Why, did you have any doubts about that?" Ardyn raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, your Highness, with your affinity for greens I thought maybe a chocobo..." Noctis giggled next to them.

"You know what? I think I see the resemblance!" he said, gently lifting up some of his friend's messy hair. His hand was swatted away quickly.

"You might have a point..." Volpes laughed with him. "I'm going to have to leave you two, the King's waiting." she said, getting up. Ardyn threw the leftover butt of his carrot onto Noct's empty plate and put both things away quickly.

"Have a good day, Vol." he said sincerely. "And do keep the old man safe for me." he winked.

"I'm afraid he does what he wants, Highness, but I'll do my best." the woman replied easily before going away.

"Doesn't he always." Ardyn sighed.

"So this is your dad's Shield?" Noct asked.

"She is indeed."

"How did she get into that business?" his friend gave him a curious look.

"Why would you ask?"

"I'm not doubting her ability or anything. It's just that in my case it was a family thing. So I wonder if she comes from a long line of Shields, too." he explained.

"Ah. She doesn't. They've been friends since youth, that's how it came to be." Noctis thought about it for a moment.

"Good." he said. When Ardyn's look turned questioning again, he elaborated. "In Gladio's case, it was something they'd done for generations. His father was my father's Shield. And so on." he sighed quietly. "We didn't get along at first, but then we grew closer. Still, I always worried he would rather be doing something else." His friend frowned, though there was understanding in his eyes.

"You said yourself that you were close. And the things you've told me about him never sounded like he was forcing himself to be by your side."

"No, I know he wanted to be there." Noct fumbled with the explanation. "We were friends. But at the same time, what if he would do something else with his life, otherwise? Help me out as a friend, still, but other than that just... have a life, I guess." he shrugged helplessly, certain he wasn't making much sense. 

"You say you were true friends..." Ardyn said slowly.

"Yeah." Noctis confirmed, confused.

"He must've treasured your friendship just as you treasured his. If it weren't for both your duties, you never would've met, am I right?" that gave the King pause.

"I suppose."

"For better or worse, I'm sure he was glad for it." Not convinced entirely, but certainly given some new food for thought, Noct nodded.

"Thanks." he got up and stretched "So, what are we doing today?" Next to him Ardyn got up as well.

"Since I didn't get to pester you in the morning, I thought I'd come up with some way to make your life miserable during the day."

"No way. You lost that chance." Noctis replied.

"Perhaps, but who is going to stop me?" his friend laughed, walking towards the chocobo pens.

"Uh... modesty?" the King tried with a lopsided smile.

"Never heard of it."

They went to take care of their birds, which took a while since the chocobos had missed their near-constant interaction from the trip. It was only a lot of treats later that the feathered creatures allowed themselves to be petted. Taking this as their cue to spoil them, the two friends got them fresh hay, changed their water and cleaned them. Being birds, chocobos did most of their grooming on their own, but immensely enjoyed getting wiped down with a damp cloth, and it made their feathers shine even more. All the while the men talked about everything and nothing, enjoying each other's company and the fact that they didn't have to do anything. Time went by fast and when they made it back to their tent it was already a little past noon.

"So, what is our plan now?" Noctis asked when they sat on their beds.

"Well, there isn't one for the rest of the day." Ardyn smiled. "Tomorrow, however, we leave with first light."

"Nooooo..." Noct groaned, making his friend chuckle.

"If you're concerned about oversleeping, you may sleep on the ship tonight."

"No way. I hate those things." the Prince frowned.

"Is it so bad? Maybe I shouldn't drag you onto one..."

"No, I'm good." Noctis shook his head. "I'm just whining. And it's not like we'll be on it for long, right?"

"Depends on what you consider 'long'. Two days or so, I think."

"Wait, what?" the King shrieked.

"You said you'd seen them fly, friend." Now that he thought of it, most of the dropships he'd seen were rather slow. The one that hadn't been was the one he flew that time with Ardyn. He supposed it must've been special in some way. Nothing less for the Imperial Chancellor.

"I have, but still. It's not that far." Ardyn shrugged.

"Far enough for the old pile of scrap metal. Besides, I may be wrong. I've never crossed the sea yet, and nobody here has done it on the airship."

"Let's hope it doesn't end up being even longer."

"It can't. We'll probably murder each other if locked in such close quarters for any longer." the Prince laughed.

"You think?" Noct smirked. Ardyn took out his notebook and scribbled something in it, while the King messed absentmindedly with the strings of his hoodie. It had been a nice surprise to find such a familiar item of clothing when he was packing for the trip. It was different than he was used to, quite clearly so, but still felt just the way a hoodie should.

"Noct? May I have a question?" his friend spoke up after a while. Knowing what to expect, Noctis cringed internally, but remained calm on the surface.

"Yeah. Shoot."

"What did you dream of tonight?" He fished for an answer but came up empty.

"Why?" he asked cautiously.

"I was... woken up by something. A feeling, perhaps. I cannot explain it, but it felt as if... something were wrong." he thought for a second "No, not wrong. Off.  _ Misplaced. _ " Noctis sighed heavily.

"I don't know. I sometimes have those. Dreams." there was a weird pause there. "Last time I had one, things didn't go so well." he finished awkwardly.

"Do they always bring bad news?" Ardyn asked calmly.

"Not really. I guess just the last one made... an impression." he hoped his friend wouldn't ask about it, having no idea how he'd be supposed to talk about that vision. It may have shown in his face, because the Prince just smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for answering."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, dear friends! <3
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. Volpes, Furi's Shield, was born and raised roughly where he was, but she's a distand relative of Lucians, namely Pas.  
> 2\. Her name is a variant of Vulpes, and means fox in latin. She goes by any possible forms and versions of that name. Vol, Voli, Vola, Volpe... basically anything you can come up with that vaguelly sounds similar, she'll respond to  
> 3\. I FINALLY GOT TO MENTION MY WIPING CHOCOBOS HEADCANON WHEEE :P I've had this image in my head for ages, since I started wondering what taking care of a chocobo would entail :B  
> 4\. Yeah, Ardyn hasn't been actually sleeping so well since he'd found out about some of the Nasty Stuff. Good Dad Furi noticed.
> 
> Btw, the fic is past 30k. It's chapter 14. We passed 20k on chapter 10. This feels suspiciously like losing control of my life and I'm enjoying every minute of it xD


	15. Towards the Blue Horizon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Get that sword and return quickly, we can't wait to demoralize you further."

After the conversation died they sat in silence for a while. It wasn't long, however, before someone came looking for them.

"What is it, are you boys moping?" Pas said from the entrance. The friends exchanged a skeptical glance before looking at him.

"Excuse me, do I look like someone who  _ mopes _ ?" Ardyn demanded.

"Yeah, what he said." the King sat up straighter, looking at the soldier like he was waiting for a challenge. Pas only laughed.

"You're way too easy to rile up." he said. Realizing they got set up, the two relaxed visibly. "Still, I bet you're bored."

"We might be..." Noct offered carefully.

"What is it that you would have us do, Pas?" the Prince was just as full of doubt.

"I don't know, human interaction?" at that Ardyn's face twisted in mock disgust.

"And what would that entail?"

"Oh come on, Prince, almost everyone is having the evening off, won't you join in?" Pas chuckled.

"Truly? Something to do with father being gone?"

"You got us. While he's away scouting I'm in charge, though, so it's technically okay." Ardyn dropped the skeptical facade and smiled.

"What son would I be if I refused to keep an eye on his soldiers in his absence?" he asked philosophically, already getting up. "Noct, are you coming?"

"Sure." the King replied before following the two to the usual meeting place in the camp.

It was an informal affair, as one would expect, people gathered in small groups talking and laughing. Passing through, Noctis could see many of them playing dice or any number of card games. They ended up sitting with two more soldiers, a man and a woman, him obviously one of the older people there and her younger than Ardyn. Noct wasn't sure what age was younger than him, anymore, so he settled for comparing people to his companion instead. The sound that caught his attention turned out to be that of a deftly shuffled deck of cards. He leaned in conspiratorially towards Ardyn.

"Are we seriously doing this?" he asked, not really feeling like disclosing more. Sure, he'd played cards before, but only a couple of times. He remembered a total of two games, and was pretty hazy on the rules of one of them. Ignis was never into cards, with Prompto they always had other things to do, like console and mobile games... He'd played a little with Gladio but didn't really enjoy being made fun of when he kept losing.

"What, are card games beneath you, Noct?" Ardyn chuckled, though he kept his voice to the same low volume Noct's had been. Noctis squirmed in his seat, aware he had to admit things.

"I'm not very good with cards." he said finally. His friend's eyes narrowed, then he cast a glance over everyone gathered and before Noct could react he was telling everyone how much he'd missed this one game, and really wanted to play it again, and he'd not get a chance to for who knows how long if they didn't do it now. It turned out it was a strictly four player thing and within a minute Ardyn had the others suggesting he and his 'cousin' play as a team. He accepted graciously, asking Noctis no less than three times if he really was okay with missing out on playing himself. For lack of a better idea, the King smiled and nodded.

"It's quite simple really, I'm sure two games in you'll have it all figured out." Ardyn whispered as he was shuffling closer to Noct so they could both look at his cards.

"You're so weird." was what Noct's intended gratitude came out as. His friend smiled as if he'd heard the highest of compliments.

"Now, where shall we start?"

All his discomfort forgotten, Noctis managed to get really into the game as time went on. He even succeeded in giving a few genuinely good suggestions, though it wasn't exactly his contribution that led to them completely decimating their opponents. Ardyn was hands down the best liar and manipulator Noct had ever seen, and when he was using his talents to win a game of cards it was immensely satisfying to watch him at work. The King half-expected to be reminded of the man's future manipulations and all the mayhem those caused but he wasn't. There was still something pure and open about the way his friend smiled and lied about his hand, a playfulness that while it made it impossible to tell when he was telling the truth also made it obvious that he was playing them all.

"Why, oh why am I not surprised?" a voice came from right behind them. Everyone except Ardyn jumped in a flash of panic, turning around to see Furisto looking at them with an exasperated smile.

"If you didn't want this to happen surely you would have given them something to do." his son replied, calm and collected as ever.

"I did." Furi pretended to glare daggers at Pas.

"What was it?" Noct asked.

"Keeping an eye on you two. Obviously they failed."

"I have to disagree, father." Ardyn turned to look at him at last. "I can assure you they've been looking at us all evening."

"It's not a good idea to lose sight of cheaters in a game..." Noctis offered. Furisto laughed.

"If you say so. Playing cards doesn't constitute taking good care of a Prince, though."

"I'm really sorry I roped him into this, sir." Pas said, looking genuinely apologetic. "If I hadn't, I would've won at least one game today."

"Really?" the Prince asked, suddenly curious. "You're about as bad at cards as my father is at keeping order in this camp."

"Ouch, harsh." Noctis giggled under his breath, while Furi could only sigh.

"Have you at least prepared for your journey?" he asked. The two friends froze. Noct looked around, with some surprise noting it was dark. They'd be playing by firelight and lamps for a while, yet it didn't occur to him it was getting late.

"Oops?" he tried.

"We should probably take care of that." Ardyn was similarly surprised. 

"Before that... A word, Ardyn?" Furisto's tone went more serious. Noctis quickly got up with an easy smile and a shrug.

"Go on, I'll get started on the packing in the meantime." he said. His friend paused.

"Are you certain?"

"Yeah, of course I am. I'll be at the ship or our tent when you're back, just come find me."

He walked away before anyone could argue. He barely noticed Furi's subtle nod, thanking him. He made his way to their tent where he packed the things he knew they wouldn't need for the night and took them, via a few trips, onto the airship. Much like he remembered, the vehicle was empty inside, just one big room with a wall dividing the controls from the rest of it. What was different was a pen made of wood taking up a significant portion of the floor. It looked kind of funny and out of place, really, but he supposed they didn't want to be wasting other resources on a temporary installation for their chocobos. Unless that was their part, he thought, and the birds were the ones to be allowed free reign. Noctis took his time distributing their stuff among the few lockers and other nooks and crannies thinking it would be best to avoid having them go flying should they encounter turbulence. 

"Ah, I must apologize, it seems you've done all the work yourself!" Ardyn said from the entrance some half an hour later. Noct walked towards the voice and found his friend carrying bags of supplies. He took half of them from his hands.

"Guess I'll have to dump some chores on you to make it even..." he laughed.

"Feel free to." the Prince said, carefully depositing the things he'd been carrying in a locker.

"So, what did your dad want?" Noctis asked carefully. The other man shrugged.

"Oh, nothing of import. Merely to pester me about our journey." He went to help Noct finish with his half of the things he'd brought.

"Pester? What about?"

"The usual father business." Ardyn waved his hand dismissively. "Be careful, don't stay up late, eat your vegetables..." Noct itched to mention Ardyn's sleeping habits at that but knew it wouldn't do any good.

"You're doing great on at least one of those things." he said instead.

"One of us has to." his friend smirked. "It would seem we are about done here?"

"Yup!" Noctis was clearly proud of himself. "All ready. We can go to bed now." he announced cheerfully.

"Star crossed lovers, reunited at last." Ardyn chuckled.

"Yes... me and my lovely bed." Noctis said with a dreamy smile.

They went back to their tent and soon they were asleep. At dawn they were both woken up by Volpes, giving Ardyn no chance to play any tricks. As he rubbed his eyes, Noct wondered just how his friend would repay him for two missed days in a row.

"We'll be right out." Ardyn said to the woman, just a tad less cheerful and composed than usual.

"I hope so. Furi is waiting." She replied, already turning to leave.

"Can't wait to see his son gone?" the Prince joked half-heartedly.

The two friends got up, Noctis only slightly staggering on his feet, and only twice caught from falling face first into something by Ardyn. They packed whatever they had left of their things into one small bag and left for the ship. A few people were waiting for them there, including Furisto, Pas and Volpe. As they were getting close to the hulking block of metal Noct looked at it for real for the first time - before it had been night, and before that he'd avoided the thing. It was worn and damaged in places, what was left of its paint a dull ivory grey. There were remains of some impossible to decipher writing in dark blue on the side of the hull, and what caught his attention was the flashy font used.

"What was this thing?" he asked.

"Hmm?" his friend's eyes followed his line of sight. "You mean, before? A commercial cargo airship, I would presume."

"Commercial? So it, like, transported ice cream and stuff?" Noctis knew the question was dumb, but preferred to clarify.

"Something of the sort, yes." the Prince replied. Noct chose not to comment further, using the fact that they were almost near the others as an excuse. It gave him pause, though, to think those very same machines he'd known to rain destruction on his land used to be glorified cargo trucks in the past.

"By the Six, you made it at last." Furi commented with a chuckle.

"We have indeed. Did you miss us?" his son replied cheekily.

"Nah, I saw you recently enough." the father said. "Give me a chance to rest from seeing you." he joked. The two embraced for a moment and when they pulled away Furisto's hands were still on the Prince's shoulders. "Safe travels, my son." he said, seriously now.

"Same to you." Ardyn replied, nodding. "Do listen to Volpes once in a while when I'm gone. The poor woman will go mad soon if you continue to disregard your safety." a few steps away, Vol chuckled.

"He's right, your Highness."

"I'll try." Furi allowed. "You should let yourself be taken care of every once in a while, too."

"Father, you know I am the picture of responsible behavior."

"Of course you are." the man said, letting go of his son. Ardyn moved a few steps away to exchange his goodbyes with the others, while Furisto approached Noctis, putting his hands on his shoulders like he had his son's a moment before. Noct immediately felt awkward.

"And you... I know you will take good care of my son..."

"As much as he lets me." he joked, trying to make the situation less strange for himself. Furi smiled briefly.

"...But do watch your back as well, please. We want to see you return in one piece as much as we want to see him." he finished. Noctis tried to cover his surprise with another remark, but before he was able to come up with anything he was being hugged. When Furisto let him go he was about ready to pass out from the shock.

"I... Thank you, I will." as his last line of defense he tried channeling his skill at pretending he knew what diplomats were saying to him. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again, as well." Furi laughed at that.

"You will. Get that sword and return quickly, we can't wait to demoralize you further."

"Demoralize??"

"You don't seem like the type to play cards with a bunch of soldiers." the man explained and Noctis could only agree that no, he did not.

"Can't wait." he said.

They both climbed on board after that, both in good spirits and eager to get back as soon as it was possible. They found their birds in their pen already, lazily chewing on greens. They then moved to the cockpit and Noct watched Ardyn sit in the pilot's seat. He took the other one, observing all the instruments closely. His friend successfully turned the machinery on, the familiar hum of magitek filling their ears. After that it was time to raise the vehicle from the ground, which happened slowly and in a jerking motion. Out back, the chocobos squawked.

"You're great at this." Noctis pointed out sarcastically.

"I've flown it maybe three times. I seem to recall you haven't at all." Ardyn replied, focused on keeping the airship afloat. Noct stayed silent for a moment, still scanning his surroundings, before he quickly figured out what was what. Apparently there were benefits that came from having grown up surrounded by technology, even if that technology was completely different. He supposed there were only so many ways one could steer an airship, though.

"Give me that." he muttered, grabbing the controls. His friend let out something of a surprised shriek that died quickly as the ship stopped shuddering and started lifting smoothly.

"I admit defeat."

"Move over." Noct ordered, and Ardyn shimmied from under him and onto the copilot seat, leaving this one to the King. 

"How do you know how to fly it?"

"Well, I got a driving license."

"A what?"

"Exactly." they both chuckled, the Prince sounding surprised still. The ship made it past the tops of the trees and with one motion of a lever Noctis supposed would do the job it proceeded to glide forward. Far off they could see the faint shimmer of the sea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And off we go, towards adventure! :B
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. I keep forgetting to mention this, so even though it's not related much I'm saying it now. The headcanon for Shields is that they aren't an exclusively Lucian King thing, but a tradition of having a main bodyguard that carried over from Solheim nobles. Basically if you're considered important enough that there should be a person who gives their life before they see you perish, you get a Shield.  
> 2\. Noct is bad at cards. I really don't think he would've played much at all. His royal education included chess, as an "easy entry to strategy", which he found boring (most 5 year olds do...) and therefore did his best to fail. He has the rules memorized and all, but is the most impulsive chess player you've seen. He's actually won against Ignis a few times based on sheer unpredictability.  
> 3\. Do I have to say Ardyn has the best poker face ever? I mean seriously, this man is a walking lie distributor xD Idk what they played exactly, think some game from far away that plays a lot like poker.  
> 4\. Yep, the airship used to be a cargo thing. They really do look like that when you think about it, way too tall for just magitek soldiers standing there. Much more like the back of a truck. I wonder what this particular ship carried... ideas?? ;)
> 
> thank you to everyone who's been commenting!! <3 I keep saying it but I cannot thank you guys enough, your comments give me life and make me so incredibly happy <3 <3 <3 -hugs you all-


	16. Left Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I never asked, how come you don't have a Shield?" 
> 
> "It's somewhat complicated. The short version is that I've never wanted one."

One thing Noctis had no experience with was navigation, and it was with relief that he allowed Ardyn to decide in which direction they should go. It was easier seeing as the sea was faintly visible in the distance, but knowing himself he expected he'd take them in an entirely wrong direction anyway. They spent a little while in the cockpit, chatting, while Noct figured out the autopilot. It wasn't the kind of fancy thing that could take care of the entire journey for them, but it allowed them to lock the controls so that unless something pushed them off course they should keep going steadily forward. They wouldn't be leaving the ship to its own devices for long, anyway, but it was a great help to be able to just sit back and monitor things instead of holding on to all the levers and sticks. With the newfound freedom, Noctis thought it was time to get started on his own secret plan.

"You said it was elemental energy, right?" he asked suddenly.

"What was?" his friend was positively baffled.

"That thing you do. The relaxing one."

"Oh, yes." Ardyn smiled.

"How do I learn it?" the King demanded.

"I'm afraid you're just going to have to practice until you get it right."

"Did you practice on Atra? Cause he doesn't look accidentally fried..." Noctis said, raising his hands towards Ardyn as if getting ready to turn him into fried chocobo. Ardyn raised an eyebrow at him before grabbing both his hands and positioning them so that they faced each other, in Noct's lap.

"Perhaps try on yourself, first." he advised.

"Sure, less of a problem if I overdo it..." Noctis mumbled under his breath. Ardyn didn't pay him any mind.

"Just try affecting the air between your hands. Trust me, you will know when you get it right."

"Okay, I'll do that." the King decided, focusing on the exercise.

For the next few hours they were silent with the exception of the crackle of different elements of magic as Noct used too much of them, and his silent cursing whenever he burned, electrocuted or froze himself. That, and Ardyn's occasional exasperated sighs. A few times he'd tried to suggest Noctis take a break or even let him take a look at his hands to make sure he wasn't hurt, but the King was having none of that. He remained focused, if more than a little irritated. They took a break around midday to eat something from their newly refilled supplies and check on the birds. After that, the Prince told Noct to take a nap, so that they may start taking turns sleeping. They agreed someone needed to keep an eye on the ship at all times, and both knew there was no way Ardyn was going to just fall asleep during the day so the honor fell to Noctis instead. He was far from complaining about that development, still suffering some residual foul mood after being woken up at dawn. Obediently, he went to the back compartment and prepared his sleeping arrangement, consisting of the usual mattress and pile of blankets next to the chocobo pen. It was warmer there, and every now and then the birds would chirp quietly to each other or gently check on him, their feathers brushing his face. He loved it, and fell asleep instantly.

Ardyn woke him up for supper some hours later. They ate in relative silence, again punctuated by an occasional hiss of pain. Afterwards they sat in the cockpit together for a while, the Prince quietly explaining to Noct how to make sure the ship was still on course. Once everything was said and Noctis had no further questions they both stayed there for a few minutes more. Finally, Noctis felt the  _ right _ balance of energy form between his palms.

"Yes!" he muttered under his breath, before turning to his friend. "Guess it's your turn to sleep." he said casually.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. I thought I'd be going soon." Ardyn barely looked at him. Noct was having none of it.

"Nope, you're going now." he stated, getting up himself.

"Why so insistent?" his companion questioned, looking straight at him now.

"We need to keep watching the ship, right? The sooner you go to bed, the sooner I'll be able to sleep again." he reasoned, trying hard not to smile as that would draw suspicion.

"If you're so desperate, you should sleep now. I can stay up for a while yet."

"I don't trust you to watch the ship running low on sleep, Ardyn." the King pulled out the big guns. His friend sighed heavily and stood up.

"Very well." he announced before heading towards the back. Noctis followed.

"I think I got it." he said before he could be questioned again. Ardyn's frown was skeptical.

"You  _ think _ ?"

"Won't know until I try it, right?" Noct approached his friend with his hands out. The Prince backed up slowly.

"We've got birds you could train on." The King had an answer ready for that as well. He moved close to the pen, letting the chocobos rest their head on either of his shoulders and focus their huge, beautiful eyes on Ardyn.

"Do you really want me to risk it?" he asked quietly, burying his hands in ebony feathers. His friend could resist no more.

"Fine." he rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Do what you must."

"Okay." Noctis said, clapping his hands for good measure. "Lay down." Ardyn sighed.

"Really?"

"You're not talking your way out of this. Now, go on. I need to get back to the cockpit."

Defeated, Ardyn laid down on his makeshift bed. He might have been covering it with pretend fear, but Noct could tell he was tense. Probably really not used to being the one vulnerable in a situation. Ignoring it, Noctis kneeled next to him and put both his hands above his chest. He closed his eyes and focused, trying his hardest to reproduce that feeling he'd finally caught just minutes before. He couldn't see the faint shimmer of magic that appeared but he didn't miss the deep breath his friend took as he got the balance right. He could feel the tension much better now, resisting the free flow of energy. He carefully chased it out with invisible tendrils of the elements, mixed in just the right proportions. He only opened his eyes when he was done, and was greeted by the image of Ardyn looking calmer and more relaxed than he'd ever seen him before.

"I'm... impressed." was the only thing his friend said before falling asleep on the spot.

Grinning to himself like an excited kid, Noct got up and quietly moved to the cockpit. If he did this right, he was going to have a few long hours to kill. As he sat in the pilot's chair he wondered whether Furi would approve. It was a nice feeling, knowing deep down that he not only helped his friend but made someone else happy in the process. As predicted, the night dragged on endlessly and he could barely tell where they were even going and what laid underneath the airship. He was pretty sure Ardyn would have to correct their course as soon as it was light out, but that was probably unavoidable. During the night, every once in a while all the bad thoughts would come to haunt him. The future, the past, everything that he knew was just waiting for its moment to come crashing down on them. And the vision he'd had and still had no idea how to interpret. But whenever his mind strayed towards that he'd push it away, focusing on whatever other nonsense he could think of. He thought of everything pleasant he could recall, endless banter with his friends, his game of King's Knight left halfway through, Ardyn getting to relax for once, his own father's proud eyes, destiny be damned. He'd find a way to fix it. He had to. Somehow.

The sky was beginning to turn grey as Ardyn entered the cockpit. Noctis gave him an appraising look, noting with satisfaction that the man did indeed seem well rested this time.

"Look who's up." he said cheerfully, only to be ignored. His friend walked inside, sat in the copilot chair and looked through the window for a while.

"Thank you." he said finally. Noct, who had already started worrying something was wrong, smiled again.

"You needed it." he replied simply.

"I suppose I did. Was it my father who gave you the idea?" Ardyn finally smiled.

"Well, technically. He pointed out you should sleep more. I did the rest." the Prince looked at him for a long moment.

"Just don't overdo it now that you know it works on me." he joked. "Lest I get too used to it." Despite it being said so lightly, Noctis immediately knew what was the heart of the problem and refused to leave it unsaid.

"So what?" he asked, challenge in his voice. "I'll be here. Whenever you need it." This time the Prince's look was openly disbelieving.

"...thank you." he said again. Noctis let the subject rest for a while.

"I never asked, how come you don't have a Shield?" Ardyn seemed grateful for the change in subject.

"It's somewhat complicated. The short version is that I've never wanted one."

"And did they just let you?" Noct found it hard to believe the confines of royalty were ever so easy to escape.

"Well, my father believes such things should be born of friendship before duty, so he did not press." the Prince explained. It made sense, knowing how Furi and Volpes got together.

"And your mom?" At that, Ardyn sighed.

"She rather prefers to avoid the subject of Shields."

"How come?"

"Hers gave her life to save her some years back. Mother refuses to allow another one, claiming she's safe enough in the Citadel."

"Oh." Noctis desperately tried to think of the appropriate thing to say before settling on following his gut feeling. "I guess I can imagine how that would feel. No wonder she doesn't want anyone else now."

"Yes, I also find it quite understandable."

"So, why don't you want a Shield? Does it have something to do with your dad?" the King asked. Judging from Ardyn's look, he hit the nail on the head.

"You could say so. I despise the idea of someone being bound to protect me with their life when they wouldn't choose to do so otherwise."

"Makes sense. I don't think I'd want it either if anyone ever asked me."

They sat in silence for a while afterwards, but it wasn't a heavy one at all. Ardyn seemed to be clinging to the leftover bits of peace, letting himself rest for once. Noct tried not to smile too much, whenever he remembered it was his doing. In the end, he quietly announced he was going to catch up on sleep now and left the cockpit.

The wind was blowing strong, for some reason, and it was freezing cold. Noctis tried to hug his blankets closer, only to have them pulled from his hands. He caught the escaping thing at the last second, while opening his eyes to find the world impossibly bright. It took him an embarrassingly long moment to piece together what was happening. First he noticed the cold and wind, then the lack of walls, then the lack of ceiling. Finally, he looked around and saw a mostly flat expanse of darkened metal. At last, it clicked. Oh. He was on the roof of the airship, which was still speeding through the air. He got up carefully and peered over the edge. They were above the sea. Probably not a good idea to slip and fall, then. He took a moment more to get his bearings and check that the side door was open. He threw a dagger towards it, staggering into the ship's belly after a botched landing. The chocobos greeted him with loud, excited noise and he had to control himself so as not to haul the pile of bedding he was clutching at them. Instead he roughly deposited it close to a wall and stalked into the cockpit. As expected, Ardyn was sitting in the pilot's chair, his legs propped up next to the ship's controls. His hood was up and he seemed to be napping himself. Noct did not care.

"What. The. Hell??" he asked icily.

"Hmm?" Ardyn raised his head to look at him lazily. "Ah, you woke up. Splendid." the King was shaking with barely contained fury.

"I WILL KILL YOU, ARDYN. What the hell was this? Is that your idea of a joke??" he demanded. Ardyn got up and casually went to flip through their supplies.

"I've been wondering what you would like to eat. We've got-" He paused as he was punched, not too hard, on the arm.

"ARDYN!!!" Noctis yelled.

"Yes?" his friend's voice was infuriatingly pleasant.

"Explain yourself!!"

"Very well. Back in camp you suggested I would not be able to top my last prank. I seem to have proven you wrong." Noct gaped at him for a good ten seconds.

"What if I fell?" he asked weakly, already giving up.

"You'd warp back onto the ship, I presume."

"But... How did you even get me out there?" Noctis continued questioning while slowly sliding down the wall and onto his ass.

"It wasn't easy, I'll admit. But I was able to hold you up with one arm and use the other to warp. Honestly, you'd be surprised yourself to know how much you can sleep through." Ardyn replied, putting a sandwich into the King's hands. At least it was a good sandwich. No plants included.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised fluff over on tumblr. So fluff it is ;P Nocto got to take care of our lovable Trash Baby <3 And then he almost died. Oops... ;P
> 
> Headcanon time!  
> 1\. I thought this kinda autopilot thing would be appropriate for the technology level of those Solheim scrap ships. Definitely something that would be useful on long cargo runs, right?  
> 2\. Noctis is amazing at talking to people about difficult subjects. Remember him talking to Talcott when his grandpa died? Great job. But he's also an awkward mess and at first when confronted with Sad Subjects he freaks out trying to remember what he's *supposed* to say. Then he remembers it's not about knowing and just uses his empathy instead.  
> 3\. Now you know about the Queen's shield. Had that in mind for a while now. I hope this puts some more light on why Ardyn has been so alone.  
> 4\. Idk about that prank, man. It was kinda dangerous. Ardyn almost dropped Noct a few times there. But Noct never has to know....
> 
> So yeah, here's another one for you <3 Hope you enjoy!! Please please share your thoughts, I love nothing more than reading comments <3 They will be arriving in the next chapter, so there's not much of this snail paced stuff left. By the way, I've been laughing about it for a while now, have you noticed that due to the fact that I posted more early on this fic's chapter numbers are the same as the days on which they are posted? Lmao. 16th chapter, posted on the 16th. I don't know it amuses me :P


	17. Where The River Flows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Why would I do something you wished I didn't?"

Noctis remained in a state of shock for a while yet, sitting in the copilot's chair and chewing thoughtfully on his sandwich. His friend let him have the time to himself and regain some composure. It was probably about an hour later that he actually realized what he was looking at.

"Are we getting there?" he asked. The Prince must've been similarly lost in thought because he turned to Noct entirely too quickly, looking surprised.

"Let me guess, you've grown tired of my shenanigans and want to get away?" he asked after taking a few seconds to process the question. Noctis shook his head.

"No, I mean for real. Look." he pointed at the horizon, where the endless blue shimmer seemed to be replaced with dark blue-green smudges. Ardyn regarded the sight for a while.

"It would seem so. Sooner than we expected, too." he noted, pleased.

"Great."

"I do apologize if I overstepped my boundaries with that last one." the Prince said, oddly serious. Noct stared at him.

"Ardyn, everyone makes fun of my sleeping. Everyone. I'm used to it."

"You hold no grudge?" he wanted to be sure.

"Nope. I didn't fall, did I?" the King grinned. Just as his companion relaxed, he added "Just be aware now I get to pull something equally dangerous on you." Ardyn laughed, now for real letting go of the anxiety which seemed to have bothered him.

"Do try, dear Noct."

"Wanna catch a nap before we arrive?" Noctis suggested.

"Right after you threaten me? I think not."

"It's not going to be so easy, you know. I'll catch you when you least expect it." the younger man chuckled.

"Oh, I see you're learning." Ardyn said, clearly proud of himself.

"So, wanna rest for a bit?"

"No, I think we will instead sleep this journey off when we arrive. It looks like we won't be landing until afternoon, and I would rather avoid rushing into the Tomb right away."

"Fair enough." Noct admitted, focusing back on the slowly growing patch of land on the horizon.

The next few hours were spent in the cockpit, lazy conversation interspersed with long bouts of companionable silence. Finally, Noctis decided to probe another subject he'd been thinking about recently.

"So, Ardyn. Don't get offended or anything, but do you dye your hair?" he asked with no idea what to expect.

"Pardon??" his friend seemed deeply offended, judging from the shriek. So much for the disclaimer.

"What? It's okay if you do, I'm just curious."

"Seriously, Noct? Do you honestly think that I would-"

"Yes, actually." Ardyn closed his mouth and stared at the King for a long moment.

"...I guess you have a point." he admitted quietly.

"So, do you?" Noctis didn't let up.

"No!"

"Okay, okay." the King chuckled. "I was just thinking."

"Yes?"

"Your dad's hair is brown, right?" Noct tried to get the point across without actually saying anything.

"Yes?" this time the question was more insistent.

"And your mom's is black..."

"Out with it, you monster!" Ardyn's patience was at its limits. Against all reason, Noctis giggled. He couldn't help himself seeing how indignant his friend looked. For a moment it seemed like the Prince would strangle him on the spot.

"I'm just wondering where the hell does red come in!" the King half-yelled in order to get the words out through his laughter. His friend's face cleared in understanding.

"Is that why you're insinuating all of... that?" he waved his hands in the air to express a multitude of that-ness, whatever it meant.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Noct forced himself to calm down and stop  _ giggling. _ He took a deep, calming breath. "I'm not suggesting anything, man. It's just that your magic is red, for no reason, right?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'. You get what I'm saying now?"

"Yes..." Ardyn nodded slowly. "It is an interesting theory." he admitted. "I doubt it brings us any closer to understanding the cause, however."

"True. But it's a lead." the King shrugged, refusing to let his companion dampen the mood. The Prince sighed.

"I suppose you're right. You seem really interested in solving that mystery, aren't you?"

"I might be." Noctis smiled. "There's just something going on that we're not aware of, and I would love to learn more."

"That is a wise approach indeed." Ardyn admitted.

Conflict resolved, they lapsed back into silence for the rest of the trip. Every now and then they would exchange a few words, mostly commenting on the land growing steadily in their view. At some point Noct went to check on the chocobos and feed them and remained there longer, playing with them. The poor creatures were bored out of their minds and eager to finally run again. He supposed he couldn't blame them, he wanted to be back in the open as soon as possible, too. When he finally returned to the cockpit, the land mass in front of them was already taking up the entire window with its sandy-green flatlands covered in slowly moving clouds of light brown. 

"Well, shit." the King cursed under his breath.

"Talk about not inspiring confidence..." Ardyn pointed out, eyebrow raised. "What is it?"

"This... is not at all how I remember it."

"How do you remember it?" his friend was only politely interested, if at all.

"Uh, a desert? A big and empty desert. Definitely not as much grass. And what the hell are those brown things?"

"I presume you mean the animal herds. They are quite large, it seems."

"Understatement of the year. There must be thousands of them." Noctis tried to focus on the brown streams of fur but couldn't tell where one animal ended and the other began. They seemed to cover most of the landscape, which was a dry but still mostly green grassland occasionally sprinkled with trees. He suddenly realized that the Tomb would likely be different, too. "Looks like I won't be of much help, after all." he said, cursing internally this time.

"Why would you say so?" Ardyn asked, his full attention immediately trained on the King. He didn't wait for an answer. "You are my companion on this journey, and your presence if of utmost importance. Whatever we face down there, we will not be doing it alone."

"I guess I just wish I could use what I know to our advantage." Noct admitted.

"You don't know that yet. Anyway, let's find a safe place to land."

They left the conversation at that, and navigated to where Noctis remembered, and Ardyn read the Tomb would be. After the initial shock it came as no surprise that the entire mine wasn't there. Instead, there seemed to be a swampy oasis in the middle of the dry landscape. Animals seemed to flock to a few select bodies of water there, but only those. That meant either predators, toxic fumes or both, Noct supposed. Both him and the Prince had no intention of testing whether their airship would sink into the mud, so they landed a little ways away, on dry land. It was Noctis who had the controls throughout that process, but Ardyn was constantly providing feedback regarding the terrain they were nearing, telling him where exactly to put the machine down. Once the engines were finally turned off, the two friends hurried outside. Upon closer inspection, the enormous herds of animals looked familiar.

"What are those things?" Noctis asked, baffled by the extra horns and different fur color.

"Garulas?" his friend offered, sounding only mildly convinced himself.

"Not entirely? They're similar, but different."

"I suppose it's only natural for animals that live so far away to also look different." Ardyn decided. "I only hope they're similarly docile."

"I guess we'll find out."

"Yes, but I would prefer a smaller test sample in case it turns out they hate humans." the Prince said, pointedly looking at the hundreds of animals surrounding them.

"I'm not gonna argue with that logic."

They tried not to draw attention as they set up camp around the airship and let their chocobos loose. The birds were obedient enough to not go running off into the sunset, but trotted around for a good half an hour before they settled. Even then, they would pace restlessly every few minutes. The companions were set on getting some rest after being cooped up in the ship so the only thing they did that evening was a short walk, familiarizing themselves with their immediate surroundings. It seemed the Tomb was within the swamp, as they expected, though they had little idea how exactly to approach it besides going in and hoping for the best. Ardyn knew nothing aside from the location and Noct's knowledge amounted to nothing seeing as the entire landscape was different. He supposed whatever they were getting into had been demolished and turned into the mine in his times. As soon as they returned they got ready for bed, wanting to get up as early as possible the next day. 

"Just... don't do anything crazy this time, okay?" Noctis asked, already only half awake.

"As you wish." his friend replied. They laid in darkness for an indeterminate amount of time, before a low grumble could be heard from far away. "Did you hear that?" Ardyn asked.

"Daemons." Noct said, his voice heavy with dreadful certainty. An uncomfortable silence descended on the camp for a minute.

"Should we move?" the King shook his head.

"I don't even know if there are havens nearby. Besides, the birds will warn us if they get close. We can always hide in the ship then." he suggested.

"I suppose you're right." Ardyn sighed. "After all, you're the one who's lived through this already."

"Yeah..." Noctis muttered uselessly. He had, and he never wanted to see a daemon again. It didn't seem like he would be granted that luxury, though.

They fell asleep a long time after that, both straining to hear any more inhuman growls until they passed out. There seemed to be nothing except the shuffling of heavy animal feet and occasional calls coming from the herds. 

They were both woken by their chocobos whom they hadn't tied down the previous evening. The sun was high up already and their surroundings looked decidedly less grim now, the grass a tired sort of dusty green and the small ponds near the swamp shimmering cheerfully. The not-garulas surrounding them seemed to be fairly active as well, moving about and conversing amongst each other. Something, Noct realized, was amiss though.

"So why didn't you wake me up this time?" he asked, suspecting the worst. Ardyn seemed surprised at the question.

"You asked me not to." he explained as if it were obvious.

"Wait, since when do you care?" Noctis was puzzled.

"What is this supposed to mean?" his friend asked, outraged now.

"Ardyn, you nearly killed me last morning. Based solely on the fact that I said it would be hard to do something crazier than the time before that." the King elaborated slowly, as if speaking to someone not very clever, to put it mildly.

"Yes, I did." the Prince admitted easily.

"So...?" 

"You'd never asked me not to, before."

"Wait, really?" Noctis stared at him. "Was that all it took?"

"Of course. Why would I do something you wished I didn't?" the fact that it seemed so obvious to Ardyn was perhaps the most surprising part of the revelation for Noct.

"I give up. You're absolutely impossible." he threw his hands up, defeated.

"Yes, I seem to recall you've called me that before." Ardyn giggled, getting up. "Come, we should get going soon."

Noctis gave up on trying to understand him and got up as well, joining in the morning chores. They were cooperating almost seamlessly by now, he noticed. After a short breakfast and putting their things back into the ship in case they didn't return before nightfall they mounted their chocobos and set out. They let the birds run for a little while, taking them in a big circle around the camp. It would do them good to burn some energy before the trek which would most likely require them to remain focused for a long time. Around them, the endless herds of garulas parted like water. Noct found himself wishing Prompto was there with them. He'd love the view, and would doubtless take wonderful photos of it. Trying not to dwell on those thoughts, he turned Corvus towards the swamp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand we're in modern day-Niflheim at last!! What a journey it's been. Not much action yet, but we're getting into the Tomb next chapter! I really can't wait but I also don't want to skip over bits of their journey where I KNOW important subjects would come up and things would happen. Also, I feel like it's more in tune with the game's roadtrip vibe, you know? 
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. Okay, so the mine where the Tomb was in-game must be newer than 2k years, I mean seriously. But despite the surrounding area being dry, the mine is full of water, meaning there must be some water underground there... Thus the idea of a savannah-type environment was born, with a swampy swamp in the middle :B  
> 2\. Daemons. Are around. Not very near though, as I heacanon they generally go after humans, and the whole area is just garulas non stop  
> 3\. This subspecies of garula was well known in Solheim days, and had its own name. Then everyone got the hell out of there and they were forgotten. As for their habits and stuff, think American bison, or maybe gnu antelope. Quite a sight.  
> 4\. Yeah, Ardyn wouldn't have played those pranks if Noct just asked him not to. The more you know ;)
> 
> Okay, tell me how you like it! Are you as excited as I am to finally get into some action? :D I have ideas for the Tomb, I think it'll be fun :3 As always, a HUGE thank you to all the lovely people commenting!! You're all an inspiration and encourage me to keep writing this thing <3


	18. Driven to Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hate is for those who deserve it, Ardyn."

As solid ground slowly gave way to murky green moss and slippery stones the two black chocobos grew restless. They could obviously sense something was lurking in the shade, but neither of them broke stride. They were brave birds, trained to perfection and the only indication they gave of their anxiety were shiny beaks pointed at the sources of even the smallest noise, huge eyes wary of every movement. Noctis could tell, though, that they weren't getting ready to flee, but to charge. Strong muscle coiled underneath the deceptive softness of feathers, their steps careful but sure. The King could only hope he could keep up in the event of battle and not be knocked off his steed. So far though there was no indication they were to be attacked. Slowly, the gnarled shrubs around them turned to trees, which in turn grew to encompass their path, blocking all sunlight. He observed his companion who was riding just in front of him. The man looked relaxed, despite the circumstances, wearing an almost serene expression. Noct could only wonder what was going through his head as they slowly made their way through the swamp.

At last, they came to a stone arch emerging from the dark water on one side of the path to curve above it but never reach the ground on the opposite side. It looked like a natural thing, the way it was one solid piece, but millennia of erosion made it impossible to tell with any certainty. Still, it seemed solid enough to pass under it. The birds, surprisingly, needed to be coaxed through, apparently having doubts about the rock hanging above their heads.

"Well, my guess is this is the entrance." Noctis pointed out, stretching on Corvus' back. Ardyn glanced at him briefly.

"Indeed it would seem so." he said, still eerily calm.

"Ready?"

"Absolutely."

They set off on the twisty, narrow path barely different from the treacherous moss surrounding it. The birds knew perfectly where to place their feet, instinct guiding them better than eyes ever could. It wasn't long before monsters appeared, a whole group of sahagins swimming at them from all directions, having seemingly materialized from the swamp itself. It was their natural habitat, and the humans were at a disadvantage here. Noct counted ten, closing in on them in almost a perfect circle.

"Out." he said simply and both him and the Prince stopped their chocobos, now pacing on the spot. Ardyn gave him a nod, showing he understood the plan. They waited until the beasts were just about to attack, their ranks tight, huge jaws already opening in preparation for an easy meal.

"Now!" Ardyn shouted and both men kicked at their birds' sides, lifting in the saddles. Instantly, the chocobos transferred all their pent up energy into momentum, launching at and above the sahagins. Sharp toothed jaws snapped uselessly at the empty air, strong bodies twisted in an attempt to give chase but their close proximity meant they crashed into each other and had to scramble to follow their prey. The two friends immediately pulled on the reins, turning their steeds on the spot and warping off their backs straight into the fray. The King went for his sword while the other pulled a pair of long glaives from the air. They slashed at the beasts, constantly switching spots and maneuvering around each other to keep them confused. Fast as they were, sahagins could hardly turn and distraction was the best defense against them. Noct went for one of the animals who turned its side to him, tearing it apart with an upward slash. Already another monster was diving for the arm in which he held his weapon, only to have its neck cut open by one of Ardyn's blades. Noctis withdrew, spinning around with his back to the Prince and coming back on his other side to finish that same beast off from behind. All the while, the few sahagins that didn't get caught up in the initial chaos circled around them, trying to close the trap once more. Ardyn threw himself on the back of one that was still distracted, plunging his weapons into its vulnerable sides in a series of quick stabs while staying safely on its back where it could not reach. Noctis went for the ones that were only now joining the fight, getting between two of them to both avoid their jaws and prevent them from closing in all the way. He danced between their attacks, trying to remain aware of both his opponents, while still dealing damage whenever an opening presented itself. Finally, he saw his chance and buried the engine blade almost all the way into the exposed belly of a beast as it tried to turn faster than it was able to. He whirled quickly around hearing a heavy snap, aware the other sahagin had been preparing to attack just moments before. What he saw was the animal's muzzle pierced and nailed to the ground by a spear which immediately dissolved into ruby light with a faint chime of crystal. He caught Ardyn's eye with a grateful smile and turned in the direction where he knew another beast was awaiting him. Swiftly he summoned a gun and fired straight into the open mouth. The monster fell to the ground with a dull thud. Immediately afterwards there was silence, but only for a second.

"KWEH!" an indignant yell came from the birds' direction. As the two friends turned, they saw Atra viciously stomping on the head of one of the fallen sahagins while ruffling his feathers threateningly. Behind him, Corvus stood with what could only be described as an expression of utter bafflement. He had no intention of participating in the other bird's outburst.

"You must forgive him." Ardyn said, polite as ever. "He's not very fond of reptiles, you see."

"Really?" Noct asked, feigning surprise. "I never would've guessed."

"Yes, I know it's hard to believe." his friend played along. "Let's get going, I suppose."

They approached the chocobos, the Prince with some difficulty pulling his steed away from the beast's corpse. As they mounted and set out on their path again, Noctis couldn't help noting his companion looked calm and peaceful still, even as he visibly struggled to calm his breathing. Perhaps due to the adrenaline from the encounter, he giggled at the sight, suddenly unable to control himself.

"What's so funny?" Ardyn asked, turning to him with the same serene smile. For a few moments it only made the King laugh harder.

"Sorry." he sobered somewhat. "What's with that face though?"

"What face?" his friend inquired, smiling wider. Noct snorted.

"That." he waved his hand to indicate the Prince. "Why so happy?" the other's face turned thoughtful for a moment.

"I suppose I simply enjoy doing this." he said finally.

"What? I thought you hated killing?" Noctis raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously. I meant this..." now it was Ardyn's turn to gesture and he pointed to their surroundings. "This journey. This task. I feel at peace knowing I am fulfilling my duty."

"Ah, so that's what it's about." Noct considered it. "Makes sense for you, I guess." his companion whirled around, skeptical frown on his face.

"For me? Would you like to elaborate on that, Noct?" the King chuckled, satisfied to have gotten the desired reaction.

"You care." he said, serious now. "You might not enjoy a lot of being Crown Prince, but it's important to you anyway."

"I can't help but ask, dear friend, were you different?" Ardyn inquired carefully.

"That depends."

"We've plenty of time." he raised his hands in an innocent shrug. "Indulge me."

"First of all, it depends on what point in time we're talking about. I grew to care more, as time went by. As things turned dark." the King explained. "Or maybe I just learned to admit it. See, most people used to think I was crap at being Prince."

"Why would anyone ever think such a thing?" Ardyn joked, eliciting a small smile from his friend.

"They were right. But I did care. I was just so scared of losing my dad, you know?" he turned his gaze, searching, at the Prince's eyes, and found understanding there. "Being Crown Prince, preparing to be King, it meant preparing for his death. I couldn't bring myself to face that." he paused for a moment, focusing on the dark feathers right in front of his face. "So yeah, you're better at this than I ever was." he finished. Ardyn took a few seconds to reply.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I never had the courage to resist the confines of duty." he said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Noctis was genuinely intrigued, and surprised. His companion shrugged.

"I've wanted to rebel at many points in my life, believe me. But it is uncharted territory to me. Frankly, I'm not sure what I would even do if I had the guts to throw it all away."

"Let me think..." Noct theatrically stroked his chin. "You'd be a poet. Traveling the world without a gil to your name, sleeping in barns, reciting your rhymes at street corners around Eos." he provided. His friend chuckled.

"Oh Noct, are you certain it is a good idea to make it sound so tempting?" he winked. The King saw no harm in continuing, though.

"Or you could train chocobos." he supplied. "Maye breed them, too. I'm sure you could make more money on that than the poetry, as" he cleared his throat. "um.. sophisticated as it is." They both laughed.

"Still, the first option seems better." Ardyn announced.

"You mean, as long as you can keep yourself from writing about swallowing bird poop?" Noctis pointed out.

"I do write about other things than excrement, you know."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to prove this one, Ardyn." the King said. His friend immediately shook his head, sheepish.

"Ah... it's not worth the attention, I assure you."

"Really? Why don't I-" he paused, sensing the shift in his bird's stance. Next to him, Atra let out a quiet warning screech. They scanned the swamp, looking for movement. Sahagins, again, though only two this time. "Okay, you win this round." Noct laughed, right as before he threw a lance at one of them.

The weapon stuck into the creature's side, but high enough that it merely got lodged between the near impenetrable scales there. As he warped to it, the King found himself riding the beast.

"Are you becoming friends with it?" Ardyn commented, materializing right in front of the other beast.

"Asshole." Noctis replied, abandoning the spear into the nether and conjuring his sword.

At that moment, the sahagin reared unnaturally upward, probably in fear more than any evil intention, and the King was sent flying. Already in the air he switched to a gun, preparing to fire as soon as he touched the ground. Still, he landed on his ass in the murky water, splashing it around. Not the most graceful of his landings, he was sure. Wasting no time he fired repeatedly at the advancing reptile. It wasn't an elegant strategy, but it worked and right before the beast could get close enough to snap at him it collapsed, lifeless. Noct turned to his friend in time to see him feign one side, then attack the opening left on the other as his opponent shifted. In an uncharacteristic display, the weapon that killed the sahagin was a greatsword. Immediately afterwards, Ardyn looked back at Noctis and laughed.

"Ah, exquisite." he commented.

"Shut up." the King replied, getting up at last. His pants were soaked, though thankfully he'd laced his boots well enough that at least his feet stayed dry. As he assessed the damage, his companion threw a dagger at Atra. Right as the weapon was about to pass above the bird's back, its owner warped and in one swift movement slid into the saddle. The execution was perfect enough that the chocobo seemed to hardly notice it instead of having the full weight of its rider suddenly dumped on its back like a bag of rocks. "Seriously?" Noctis grumbled, approaching Corvus who seemed offended by the prospect of having the muddy water dripping onto his immaculate plumage. 

"What?" the Prince asked innocently.

"You could've spared me the show, Prince perfect." Noct accused, grasping a moment too late at his bird. "I really hate you sometimes."

"More like you wish you could." Ardyn replied, before growing suddenly silent as he realized how much truth was probably in his words. It would be easier to hate the Accursed, wouldn't it? Probably better for everyone, too. He moved Atra right next to the other chocobo and quickly grabbed his reins, allowing the King to climb on. They resumed their trek along the twisted path.

"No, actually." Noctis said after a few silent steps. "Hate is for those who deserve it, Ardyn." he explained solemnly. "And you... you're definitely not one of them."

"Perhaps not now." the Prince argued weakly.

"The longer I'm here, the more I question if you ever were."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all IM SORRY!! I have nothing in my defense, I wasn't pulled away from writing by anything yesterday, I was just busy coming up with ridiculously dmub AU ideas with ATwistOfFate. At any rate, I think it actually helped to not write this thing for a day. I'm still aiming for another chapter in a few hours, so I can catch up~ ^^
> 
> Headcanons!  
> 1\. all of that stuff about duty. Expanding on my headcanon where Ardyn would really rather just be a normal guy, but he feels like he has a responsibility to his people.  
> 2\. It's not a headcanon, it's a memo from me to those of you who've never worn huge, heavy leather boots. If you lace those things right, you can literally wade through water in them. They're awesome <3   
> 3\. btw, we're not at the actual Tomb yet, this is the, uh, pre-dungeon? Expect even more action next chapter!
> 
> Again, thank you for commenting!! <3 You're all lovely and kind and I am so happy whenever I receive your comments <3 Please continue sharing your thoughts! Let me know how you liked this chapter, we're getting some action agan at last, though there was still some space left for serious talk and some banter as well. Was it fun? ^^;


	19. Stuck Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It is the blessed influence of having no other choice, my friend."

"Noct." Ardyn said "I don't even know what it was that I did, and I can see how unreasonable this is." he implored.

"I hated you once." the King replied, and it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to say. "I never could again, I know it." his friend looked taken aback.

"Noctis." he waited for the younger man to look at him before continuing. "You were the one to kill me." he ended up stating, even if it were meant to be a question. Noct forced himself to hold his gaze.

"More than that." he admitted instead of answering. Ardyn seemed puzzled.

"How do you mean?" he asked, voice steady.

"You couldn't die. They wouldn't let you." the King, meanwhile, sounded shaken, just as he felt.

"That is how we met." his friend said, connecting the dots. He must've known the Prophecy called the Accursed immortal, of course, but he seemed surprised nonetheless.

"Yes. I had to..." the King swallowed thickly "I had to... destroy you." Ardyn nodded slowly, before turning away and focusing on their surroundings once more. "Ardyn?" Noct tried, only to see him shake his head.

"We'll return to this." he said.

They stayed on the trail for a while more, the swamp growing more and more oppressive and claustrophobic around them. The path was almost dark now, though they both knew they couldn't have been traveling for more than a couple of hours. At one point they both jumped at a sudden noise that turned out to be three small, gangly looking spiracorns fleeing through the swamp. What they were escaping from, the companions had no idea. As their birds settled, they pressed on.

Noctis thought he was used to daemons, as much as it was even possible. He'd fought them so long, and hardly any of them could pose a threat to him after all this time. He should be prepared, calm in the face of their attacks. And maybe, he thought distantly, he had been for a time, but now all of it was gone, replaced by a numb sort of fear as he watched the glowing monster emerge from the water just left from the trail. He looked over to Ardyn who dismounted Atra and sent him off with a pat on the side. His expression was grim as he shifted his stance and summoned a sword. Noct followed, not having to inform Corvus of anything as the bird immediately took his leave to stay by his companion's side. At least both birds knew to stay away from daemons and would hopefully be safe. Noctis drew his sword and focused on dispatching the bomb as fast as possible while still moving to the defensive whenever it was about to corner the Prince. These were nasty enemies, quick to surround and corner anyone who wasn't used to their tactics. They were lucky to only have run into one, as they liked to appear in groups.

The fight was over just as unexpectedly as it began, the daemon turning from brilliant purple to charred grey as it fell and then dissolved into black mist. Noct stared at the spot where it vanished for a moment longer, until he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at his friend.

"This one was easy enough." the man pointed out. Noctis tried to smile but he knew it was time to let go of another secret he carried.

"Ardyn."

"Yes?"

"It would be easier not to, but I have to tell you. These used to be people. This is what the Scourge turns them into." he said in one breath, afraid of dragging the confession longer than absolutely necessary.

"What?" Ardyn's grip on his arm tightened.

"I only learned near the end. There is nothing we can do for them. I don't know if they are even alive anymore, technically." for a long while, his friend remained silent.

"You could've told me before this." he said, though with no trace of accusation.

"Would you have done it then?" Noctis asked. Ardyn was silent for another moment before nodding and turning to get back on his chocobo. The King followed him and they resumed the trek.

They hadn't made it far before more daemons appeared, this time a group of six goblins. Neither of them spoke through the entire encounter. These monsters were weak, mostly dispatched with a single hit, and both of them warped fast from one enemy to the next without giving them a chance to attack. Afterwards they climbed on their chocobos and moved on in silence. It was weighing heavy on Noct who felt guilty for not telling his friend earlier about the way the Scourge worked, and for telling him about his fate at all. He knew he was right, though, Ardyn wouldn't have touched another daemon if he knew what they were. But then again, did he have to? Maybe it would've been best to tell him and avoid this journey altogether, try to prevent his fate as Healer entirely. Something didn't feel right about it, however, as if it would've led to an even worse end. Still, the King was doubting the merit of trusting his feelings.

"Ardyn?" he began, unable to stand the silence any longer. They were passing under another stone arch, this one touching the ground on both sides of the path, but missing a piece at the top.

"What is it, have you more grim news for me?" Noctis was about to apologize, even beg forgiveness if necessary when he realized his friend was smiling. He frowned instead.

"Uh..." he mumbled "What?" Ardyn chuckled.

"Come on, smile, will you?" he said easily. 

"I really don't understand you sometimes." Noct replied, confused as much as relieved to see his companion in good spirits despite everything.

"Hmm. Tell me one thing, Noct. Are you ready to give up?" the older man asked with a sly smile. 

"Of course not." shocked as he was, the King's reply was sure. His friend nodded.

"Precisely. Neither am I. So for the time being we are stuck on this path." he glanced at their dark, murky surroundings with displeasure "Literally as well as figuratively."

"You're right." Noctis admitted. "But really, how do you do it?"

"It is the blessed influence of having no other choice, my friend." the Prince spread his hands with an easy smile. It almost reached his eyes.

"That's kind of depressing." Noct pointed out. Ardyn only shrugged. The King thought about it for a while more, as they trudged through the swamp, passing under two more arches similar to the ones before.

With a tell-tale hiss, a group of daemons emerged around them, immediately in position to strike. His first instinct to save the ones who were most vulnerable, Noct brought his legs under himself on the saddle and launched into the air, leaving Corvus to quickly maneuver between their opponents and get to safety. Daemons would go for humans when given the choice, and the bird was able to slip by without even drawing their attention. Plucking his sword from the air, the King attacked the nearest creature. It was only then that he was able to assess the situation. The Prince was fighting two thunderbombs, one more was approaching from the side, and four goblins were crowding them, aside from the one he just skewered with his blade. He warped to the remaining bomb, hoping Ardyn would be alright with the two. The best he could do right now was make sure his friend wouldn't have to deal with all three. He wished he could get rid of the smaller daemons which were forcing him to constantly dodge and miss opportunities for striking his main target, but the priority was making sure they wouldn't have to deal with the thunderbombs exploding.

"Noct!" he heard his companion call and turned around immediately, nearly tripping over a goblin. "Draw them here!" Not one to question instructions given in battle even if he didn't understand them at the moment, Noctis proceeded to back up step by step. He switched to his lance, with which he could prod the daemon from a greater distance, keeping its attention. The goblins, for better or worse, needed no convincing to follow. Soon he found himself back to back with Ardyn and glanced at him quickly between phasing through attacks.

"What now?" he asked.

"Fire from the trees?" the Prince responded with a question of his own, sounding very pleased with his planning.

"On three." At this moment one of the bombs Ardyn was trying to keep busy grew, just about to blow up.

"I'm pretty sure this is five!" the older man shouted, throwing his sword up into the trees surrounding the path. Noct did the same, warping towards a tree on the other side of the daemons. They both quickly cast fire magic at the monsters below. As it struck, the bomb exploded, taking the rest of the creatures with it. Noctis had to admit one thing: it was infinitely easier to use magic when everyone fighting on his side was able to warp to safety.

"Five??" the King yelled "What the hell?" His friend, also still hanging from a sword, shrugged with his one free arm.

"Given how the situation escalated more than anticipated I thought it warranted a 'five'." he said with a charming smile.

"Wow, Ardyn." Noct shook his head, accidentally making himself swing a little in the process. "Was that really the time to get creative?"

"But your Majesty" the Prince mocked "It is hardly up to me when the inspiration will strike!"

They both laughed, and Noctis finally could feel himself relax from the tense conversations they'd had before. He shook his head again, feigning exasperation, and warped back down. Ardyn followed and they both set out to fetch their chocobos, which turned out to be in opposite directions. The Prince had warped ahead at the start of battle, leaving Atra to retreat the way they came. Luckily, however scared by the explosions, the birds remained calm enough not to start running blindly off the path and they gratefully allowed their riders to catch them. They met around the spot where the battle took place and turned to ride together.

There were more stone arches surrounding them, now not only above the path but also out in the swamp. All of them were incomplete in some way, and all of them seemed to be facing in one direction. Aside from that not much changed, the air still heavy and humid, the bottom of the half-sunken forest nearly dark and eerily quiet. Once or twice they'd thought they heard something, either a creature moving or daemons materializing, but nothing tried to approach them.

"Lovely weather, isn't it?" Ardyn said casually after who knew how long of riding in silence. Noct chuckled.

"Perfect. Thought we might camp here, actually."

"Splendid idea." his friend complimented before focusing on the road ahead and pausing with an unreadable expression. "Well, this sure looks interesting." he said finally.

"Hmm?" the King followed his gaze curiously. It took him a moment with how dark it was, but they appeared to be nearing the center towards which all the arches were pointing. They were now all around them, more and more densely packed until meeting in a tight multi-layered circle that their path seemed to disappear into. "Okay, I haven't seen anything like this before." Noct admitted.

"Me neither. Quite a structure to behold." his companion replied, eyes still glued to the rock formation ahead. "Do you think it was built by human hand?"

"Doesn't look like it, but I've never seen rocks do this." Noctis reasoned.

"Magic, perhaps?" Ardyn offered. The younger man shrugged.

"I sure can't do it with mine."

"Well, if we assume your skill as measure of the power of magic..." the Prince looked suddenly fascinated with the trees above their heads.

"What then?" the King challenged. "Go on, spit it out!"

"Did you see that?" his friend didn't even try to appear genuinely interested in his own bluff "My, I swear that was a catoblepas..."

"Yep, still an ass." Noct decided, making Ardyn chuckle.

"I promise to never change."

As they got closer to the structure the air seemed to grow even heavier, the atmosphere stifling. With a brief glance at each other they stopped and dismounted. Leaving the birds behind, they approached the rock arches. There was a narrow path there, weaving in a distorted spiral towards the middle. Noctis entered first, gripped by an irrational feeling of wanting to protect the other from whatever lay within. After what seemed like a small eternity of squeezing between rocks they emerged on a clearing. At its center lay the Tomb, looking pristine as if it was built the day before. In front of it, right in their way, was an enormous monster with a snake's body. Ardyn nearly walked into the King's back but as soon as he saw the creature he readied himself to strike, suddenly focused and graceful like a cat. With a satisfied smile, Noct materialized a greatsword.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was so hard, because I started it and then realized I had logic flaws in my headcanons and had to change iiit >:U
> 
> So, let me explain those x3  
> 1\. okay so the idea behind this fic's world is that there is very little known about the Scourge rn, as evidenced early on by Ardyn saying they had no idea how it worked. Basically Solheim was destroyed fairly quickly, since it had no defense against it, and the ones who survived are mostly nobles who were immediately taken the hell away by their guards, and never stuck around to learn what was going on. Thus Ardyn has fought daemons (at the fic's beginning the only place they are found is inside tombs, caves and dungeons) but had no idea what they were. He'd never encountered the Scourge personally before.  
> 2\. I can't get over how much this dude gestures while on chocobo xD Because of his education in fighting like that, his instructors made damn sure that he didn't need his hands to ride, and he's got this habit of forgetting he's even holding the reins and waving his hands all over the place. It's kinda cute, though as someone who was taught to ride the european way I am more than a little mortified by it xD  
> 3\. There's also the bit with Ardyn's optimism getting explained. Tbh I believe it's something he retains in the future/present, how he maintains his carefree attitude.
> 
> Enjoy!! Share your thoughts! I love you all!!! <3 <3  
> (btw it's my bday I am now same age as Ardyn is here lmaoooo)


	20. Dance With the Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You should get those arms of yours looked at." the Prince laughed. "That was slow, might I suggest a different tactic?"

"After you, your Highness" Noctis said with a mock bow. Weighing his lance in his hand, the Prince smirked.

"How very kind of you, your Majesty." There was no trace of fear in either of them this time, only the thrill of a fight that was about to test their strength.

With no warning, Ardyn threw his weapon at the monster as it slithered slowly towards them. Seeing no reason to hurry, the King watched his friend warp above the creature and descend upon its back. The snake reared in surprise, turning to snap at him. Using that as his distraction, Noct teleported towards it. He landed on the ground and swung the greatsword in a huge arc, catching the monster's side. Torn between two opponents, it chose the latter and attacked. Unlike the naga and Marilith he'd seen this one shared no features with a human. Its head was that of a monster, long, narrow and full of sharp teeth, and surrounded by three pairs of appendages that most resembled those of an insect or crab with their thick armor. Its front half was a mess of patches of fur and horns, asymmetrical and disturbing to look at. 

Noctis raised his sword to parry, holding off the snake's jaws and two of its arms. It wouldn't be enough, but he could already see Ardyn readying a spell in the corner of his eye. The blizzara struck the back of the creature's head, making it flinch. However, its tail struck the Prince, knocking him into the air. Noct pushed the beast away, warping towards his companion to make sure he was okay. As he materialized there, he was greeted with a cocky smile and a wave of hand that told him not to worry. He smirked. Caelums could take a beating, after all.

"Focus on the arms?" Ardyn suggested, calling his sword.

"We could use having fewer of those to worry about, yeah." the King replied.

They both ran at the monster, successfully making it expect them to approach like that all the way. Instead, Noctis warped the last few meters, his friend following his example at as odd a pace as he could manage. Their opponent was fast and obviously quite clever, but it had no way of predicting the attack. The two men used their swords to slash at it from two sides.

"Don't phase!" the King yelled, ducking under a clawed appendage. Surprise was serving them well so far and he intended to keep it that way. The Prince listened and for a little while they danced between the attacks, causing chaos with similar tactics to what they'd used on sahagins before. With every strike the beast became more frustrated, paying less attention to its own safety. Finally, it made a mistake.

"Now!" Ardyn commanded as a sharp claw targeted each of them.

Almost perfectly in sync they phased through and brought their weapons down. Noctis cut his clean off, while Ardyn's blade slipped on the carapace. Still, it slid between the plates eventually and the appendage was rendered mostly useless. The monster screamed in pain, drawing back sharply. The two companions shared a satisfied glance before warping in different directions. For a moment they kept a chaotic attack pattern, striking at different parts of the creature and immediately warping away again. Eventually it snapped out of its shock and started pursuing them in earnest, following their erratic paths with surprising ease. As he materialized ready to attack again, Noct's right arm was caught in its jaws. Poison, he realized from the familiar sting that quickly spread through his body. He turned to warp away, already considering that he should let Ardyn know. He staggered instead and would've fallen if he weren't caught by something. Before he realized what had happened he felt the hard cold of a glass vial pressed into his hand. He crushed it right away.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" he heard his friend sneer and as his vision cleared he noticed Ardyn was taunting the snake, drawing it further away from him. "You should get those arms of yours looked at." the Prince laughed. "That was slow, might I suggest a different tactic?" he asked, easily phasing through an attack made sloppy by the monster's rage.

Not waiting for the inevitable moment when the beast would figure out it was being fooled, Noctis threw his lance at its side. The weapon pierced the scales and when he warped to it he found himself hanging a few meters above ground, stuck to a thrashing monster. He could've abandoned the lance but instead he braced his legs against the snake's body and pulled it out, flying backwards. This time the maneuver worked and he landed on his feet, gun in hand. Before their opponent could react, he fired at the wound he caused.

"I see you missed me!" he yelled to Ardyn, who was attacking the monster with his own lance now. His friend laughed, his face soft now instead of the predatory glare he had for the snake.

"With all my heart!" he replied, winking. "Glad you're back on your feet!"

"Yeah, I owe you!" Noct said, rolling sideways out of the way of one of the four remaining claws. "There's still too many of those." he announced.

"Plan?" the Prince asked from up in the air where he'd just warped. He landed on the creature's back for just a second, hit it with his sword and warped away barely in time before he would've been thrown off. 

"Glad you asked." the King chuckled. "Can you freeze it?"

"What part of it?" Ardyn demanded, quickly springing up after a bad landing. Noctis considered, fully aware the beast was more than a little too big to be hit by one spell.

"Aim for the head?" he shrugged. The other nodded and Noct ran in a wide circle, hoping to take the enemy's attention with him. It mostly worked and the Prince was able to prepare another blizzara. It struck true, freezing the enormous jaws half-open on an angry roar. As fast as he could before it would recover the younger man warped upwards with a dagger, balancing precariously on one appendage while he summoned a greatsword to slash at another. He didn't cut through all the way, but it hung uselessly now which was what he'd been aiming for.

"Here!" his friend yelled behind him, and his timing was perfect as the beast broke from the spell and snapped at the King furiously. Noctis had no chance to look where he was about to warp, so being able to throw his weapon blindly in the direction of the voice was what saved him. He landed on his feet, though overbalanced, and felt a steadying hand on his back.

"Good job." Ardyn commented, watching their opponent roar in pain with a detached sort of interest that belied the adrenaline coursing through both their veins. Noct could only stand there and attempt to get his breathing at least somewhat under control again. "Do you think we could break them while they're frozen?" the man suggested with a polite smile.

"What?" the King missed the point, preoccupied with the snake charging at them now. He dodged, the sense of the words getting to him as he materialized on the other side of the clearing. "I cast, you cut!" he yelled, having on time to spare on locating his companion.

"Go!" He noted the direction from which the answer came, quickly approaching the monster in such a way that he wouldn't get in the Prince's way. All the while he prepared a blizzara, his hand tingling with the mixed sensations of freezing cold and magic forming. He stopped abruptly and launched the spell which hit one of the remaining arms of the creature. He watched from his spot as Ardyn appeared in a ruby haze in the air next to the snake only to grab a greatsword from the nether and hit with all the force he could muster. The appendage exploded in a rain of ice, the faint sound oddly reminding Noct of the one his weapons made when being dismissed. 

His friend had no way of landing that one correctly and rolled on the ground. Thankfully the beast was too preoccupied to exploit it. Noctis warped next to him, quickly pulling him up and checking on him at the same time. He appeared to be mostly okay, he noted with relief.

"Armiger?" the Prince suggested as he composed himself. Above them, the monster roared wildly and dove for an attack. The King nodded. Their enemy was weakened enough that they could take it down with the weapons of old. Otherwise they'd be left drained by the magical cost of summoning them and with a still living creature trying to murder them.

Two sets of weapons exploded around them with a sharp crackle of crystal, bathing them in mixed red-blue glow. The snake drew back in surprise before being assaulted with a barrage of attacks from all directions. The two friends warped around it, never touching the ground, sending the swords of Kings into its body time after time. It thrashed wildly, chaotically scrambled to catch them but it missed on every attempt. Ruby and blue lights danced on its scales as the weapons found their mark. Within a minute the monster was reduced to a writhing mess, and immediately after stopped moving for good with a last twitch of its massive tail.

The two friends landed easily, both panting but satisfied, grinning madly. The twin Armigers were dismissed, the light gone and the clearing returned to its previous halflight. It was brighter than the surrounding area had been, but still nowhere near full daylight, the sky above them an oppressive mass of grey. Coming down from the adrenaline high, Noctis and Ardyn patted each others' backs and laughed through their labored breaths.

"That was a good fight." the Prince spoke first.

"Yeah. We got it." Noct replied.

After taking another minute to recover they slowly approached the Tomb. The King let his companion take the lead, aware it was his mission after all. He followed quietly, all the while watching the small building with interest. Despite having been in it before he felt a great dose of reverence for the resting place of one of the great Kings of old. Before entering his friend paused for a moment, seemingly to compose himself. Noct supposed he wouldn't want to be seen by his ancestors looking like he'd just barely escaped with his life either. The older man took a few deep breaths and fixed his coat, almost prompting a chuckle from Noctis as he realized Ardyn thought of his clothes now of all times. The Prince opened the door with a small key that felt achingly familiar to look at to his younger friend. They entered the Tomb in silence, neither daring to disturb its peace.

Slowly, they approached the stone sarcophagus with the figure of the King laying on it. The katana was resting in his hands, just like it had been before Noctis took it, which felt all the more odd seeing as he'd just used it along with the other weapons to slay the monster guarding it. Next to him Ardyn glanced around the room briefly before extending his arm for the weapon. It responded immediately, filling the Tomb with a ruby glow. It was strange to see how even that old Magic answered the Prince with his own color. The katana lifted slowly before stopping above them, poised for attack.

The King watched with fascination as his friend tilted his head back and spread his arms wide. His eyes closed, the same serene expression from earlier in the day making an appearance once more. Noctis never enjoyed the act of acquiring new Royal Arms, and it was odd to see someone accept them so readily. Perhaps it had to do with the different circumstances, though. As he watched, the blade plunged into Ardyn's chest without warning. A small smile almost perfectly covered the involuntary grimace of pain and surprise that Noct remembered feeling all too well. For a moment afterwards, the Arms, eleven now, danced in the air, more red light setting fire to the golden elements scattered around the Tomb. And then it was gone, the room darker now for the light that filled it moments before. Slowly, Ardyn lowered his arms and opened his eyes. When he looked at the King, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears but his smile was genuine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOSS FIGHT!! xD This is ridiculous, I have never written a fight that freaking long. Wow. I suppose that's appropriate given that it was a boss after all... xD Oh well. It's done now. And Ardyn got to grab the sword, too.
> 
> Headcanons!  
> 1\. The thing isn't a daemon, or an animal. I figure the Tomb guardians are SUPPOSED to be there, so they're... something else? I really don't know beyond this.  
> 2\. HEY LOOK THEY CAN COOPERATE!  
> 3\. I know this is blizzara-heavy. The deal is that this is what this lovely creature is weak to. I had no freaking idea how to write is so can we just assume someone Libra'd it at the beginning? Please? ^^;
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! And once again thanks for all the birthday wishes! They are greatly appreciated, you guys made my day <3 <3 Keep those comments coming, they are the reason for my existence ;)


	21. Reality Dream II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who is she? Why is she hurting him? Hasn't he been through enough yet?"

They left the Tomb soon after, both a little dazed. Just the light display was enough to make one dizzy, and Noctis remembered how much worse actually being the one to receive the weapon was. He watched his friend closely just in case.

"So, you've got it." he said. Ardyn turned to him with an absent smile.

"Yes, apparently."

"Ready to go home?"

"Oh, definitely." the Prince nodded.

They started on the way back, wasting a good half an hour to squeeze back through the narrow passage between the rocks. Their birds were waiting there, completely unbothered as usual. The swamp was even darker now and they could barely tell where the path ended and where it began. Luckily for them, the chocobos knew better how to get them back out. They trusted them and the road back was fairly easy. It was possible to ride faster now that they didn't have to be wary of what might lie ahead, but it still took a long time. They didn't talk much, both focused mostly on not drawing monsters' attention and getting back to camp as soon as possible. Finally, they emerged from the forest and out into the open, finding the sky completely dark. They traveled to the camp at a fast trot, finding it just as they left it. Too exhausted to do anything else, they made their beds inside the ship, taking the chocobos with them for fear of leaving them outside unattended. As he was about to drift to sleep, Noct thought of something.

"Hey Ardyn?" he asked. The other said nothing, but being certain he couldn't be asleep yet the King pressed on. "Need any help sleeping?" he offered. He almost started wondering if his companion didn't hear him after all before the answer came.

"...If you're offering." the man said quietly. He sounded tired, and perhaps a little resigned.

Noctis reached towards him and recalled the correct mixture of elements. Faint blue light reflected off the ship's walls and in their eyes, pulling their faces from the darkness. Noct's reserves were almost dry by now since it had been a long while since they'd passed any energy deposits, but he figured it wouldn't be a problem since they were about to head back. Slowly, his friend relaxed and closed his eyes. The King drew his hand back, satisfied. It took him no time at all to fall asleep as well.

* * *

He opened his eyes to the sound of someone talking. It was mostly dark, if not completely. He could see no sources of light, though, as if the air itself was retaining some residual glow. He was able to make out the texture of unpolished stone on the floor and walls that surrounded him. It seemed like the ending or beginning of a narrow corridor and he decided to try following it. He faintly realized this wasn't the real world, and was reminded of his last vision. Maybe this time, seeing as he had some idea as to what was happening, Carbuncle would be more willing to explain things.

He could still hear a human voice faintly. It was impossible to tell what the person was saying, or if they were talking at all, but slowly, with each twist and turn of the tunnel it became louder. At last, the corridor opened to a slightly larger room. It was a bit brighter, too, though still there were no light sources. He could see the man kneeling on the floor, though. It was Ardyn, not just as old as he'd seen him last in the present, but entirely the same: just as beaten and bloodied. Noct's heart broke at the sight. It was hard enough the first time around, when he had the luxury of hating him and blaming him for all that had happened. This time, though, it was too much to bear. He stood rooted to the spot for a long moment, watching the fallen Prince as he stared ahead with unseeing eyes, mumbling in a voice so broken it seemed inhuman.

"...no, I can't... can't see that... not that, not again... please no..." he heard the words at last, and... was that a sob?

Unable to stop himself he ran towards Ardyn, tried to snap him out of it, to do anything. Still the man didn't seem to notice him, stuck in whatever was playing out before his eyes. Noctis tried shaking him, too violent in his panic, but nothing worked. Nothing seemed to get through, no matter how hard he tried. Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out quickly, hoping for some answers at last and willing to fight for them if need be. As he turned around he saw the small fox standing a few steps away, watching him closely. Its blue glow was almost gone, the fur pure white now, while the horn on its head glowed a brilliant red, like a small flame. The King unlocked his phone and looked.

"He's supposed to be alone. " the message said. Noct almost choked on his indignation.

"What do you mean 'supposed'? Why? Who's doing this?" he demanded. His phone chimed again.

"It's okay, Noct. She just wants him back. " The man recoiled as if he'd been hit, suddenly remembering hearing those words in his vision.

"Who is she? Why is she hurting him? Hasn't he been through enough yet?" his voice broke on the last question. The sound his phone made was cheerful as always.

"You're doing okay Noct, I promise. " it said this time. Before he has a chance to react, another message came.

"Have I ever lied to you? " At that, Noctis laughed bitterly.

"I don't know. Have you?" he asked. "Are you doing it now?"

"It's okay, you're scared. " the message read.

"I probably would be, too. "

"You're doing a good job. "

"Just keep at it a little longer, okay? "

A sudden sound of rock grinding against rock made the King turn around sharply. Where his companion had been sitting just seconds before now was Pryna. The dog's eyes glowed red as she used her paw to slowly drag a large stone across the floor. It was red, like a crushed brick. As the shiba moved it, it left a thin red line. Noctis looked around and found that Carbuncle was gone as well. He watched Pryna for a long time, half intrigued and half just unable to look away. Finally she finished drawing a circle. A glowing red dot appeared in its center instantly. It was barely visible, but seemed to be getting brighter.

* * *

He woke up with a start. Immediately he looked around trying to determine his surroundings. To his shock, he seemed to have moved and was now right next to Ardyn, his head tucked under the Prince's arm. With considerable difficulty he stopped himself from jerking away, instead trying not to wake the other up. It would be best if his companion never learned of this little incident. Slowly, Noctis pulled his head away, before shifting fully back onto his mattress. He breathed a sigh of relief, settling there.

"I hope you're aware that I did not mind at all." came the carefree voice of his friend. Noct froze.

"I... uh... I don't know how that happened." he tried, the end of the sentence lifting like it was trying to become a question. Ardyn opened one eye.

"Another dream, I suppose. I woke as well, I think it was a few hours ago. You moved shortly after, before I fell asleep again." he explained easily.

"Oh." was all Noctis could muster in response.

"At any rate, we should probably be getting up now. No need to stay around much longer, is there?" The King silently thanked him for changing the subject so quickly.

"Yeah, promised your dad I'd be back for some 'demoralizing' as he called it." he said. The Prince chuckled.

"Right, I'm sure he can't wait. Breakfast first?" he offered.

They got busy preparing the meal, eating it and then taking care of their chocobos. The birds were restless, annoyed at being locked up on the ship so soon after leaving it. For that reason they went for a quick ride before getting ready to leave. It was still morning when they finished preparing the chocobos for the upcoming journey. Noctis took the pilot's chair and lifted the machine with what could pass for practiced ease among people who'd never seen a magitek airship before. Soon after the course was set and controls locked.

Familiar with the rhythm they easily settled into the routine of taking turns sleeping and watching the controls. Having abandoned his extreme wakeup habits, Ardyn instead took to somewhat gently shaking the King awake, then leaving him to his own devices as he prepared food. By the time it was done, Noctis would usually emerge from underneath his stack of blankets and be lucid enough to not choke on his meal. After that, he'd take over the cockpit as the Prince went to get his rest.

It was the next evening and they could already see the faint outline of land on the horizon when they found themselves in the cockpit together, killing boredom with short stories and anecdotes. Noctis had many more of those after his journey but the Prince had no shortage of things to talk about either. At some point he mentioned he was beginning to feel like he knew Noct's friends himself, an offhand remark that wouldn't leave the King's mind for hours. After a while of being torn between that and the memories of his last dream despite trying to focus on the conversation, he decided to seek his friend's advice.

"I have a question." he announced.

"By all means." Ardyn laughed, spreading his hands in invitation.

"What does this mean?" the King asked and used his finger to draw the circle with a dot in the center on the nearest flat surface. The Prince frowned.

"Solheim." he replied. "It's the symbol of Solheim."

"Solheim?" Noctis repeated, puzzled.

"Obviously. Has that too been lost to the ages?" the other man chuckled. Noct groaned in response.

"Apparently? It's not my fault you know." Ardyn seemed about to reply with another sarcastic remarks before frowning again.

"More importantly, however. Why are you asking?" Noct rolled his eyes. He knew he'd have to explain himself.

"About that dream..."

"Yes?" his friend leaned forward, intrigued.

"Well, it was there. I was wondering what it stood for." the Prince looked unconvinced, obviously aware there must've been more to the dream than just a circle and a dot, but he let it go.

"Aside from being used by Solheim, it stands for the sun." he explained.

"I don't know if that explains anything." Noctis admitted.

"What was it on?" Ardyn probed.

"The ground? I told you, there wasn't much else to go on." the King was now actively looking for a way to back out from the conversation.

"Try me, dear Noct." his companion replied with a smug smile. Noctis sighed, giving up.

"There was a small room, all made of stone. In the center of some sort of messed up corridor." he described. "And Pryna... uh, she's a Messenger like Umbra, I'm pretty sure you don't know her." he paused for a second and Ardyn nodded. "She was drawing it on the floor. It was almost dark, and when she was done the dot started glowing." he carefully omitted any mention of his friend's future self, wanting to spare him that image at least. The Prince thought for a moment, absently tapping his fingers on the armrest of the copilot's chair.

"For one, lighting up darkness does sound in line with sun imagery." he said.

"I guess. But why? And what does it have to do with the Messengers?"

"That I can't help you with... yet." Ardyn gave him a reassuring smile. "Once you have more to go on, however, tell me and I'll see what I can do."

"Okay, I will." Noct lied, knowing full well that the Prince was aware there was more he wasn't saying. It was good enough like that, letting some subjects go so they wouldn't both drown in the multitude of bad news and upcoming disasters.

They lapsed into silence then before resuming safe conversation that would lead nowhere dangerous. It took them until the land was no longer a distant thing on the horizon but a sea of green underneath the ship. It wouldn't be long before they'd see the camp again, with the soldiers who lived there and Ardyn's father waiting for them. Noct wondered what his reaction would be to them returning so soon with the Katana of the Warrior. He caught himself thinking about whether Furi would be proud of 'them', instead of just 'him'. Maybe he was getting attached to the soldier king too quickly, but he didn't care. He was happy to be back.

Finally they saw the camp. Something was wrong though, they could immediately see some of the tents collapsed and there seemed to be no movement there. In a flash, Noctis was reminded of the Ardyn in his dream, begging not to be made to see something. He didn't dare to say a word or even look at his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can say at this point is IM SO SORRY ;_;
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. Sun symbol = Solheim, because that's literally what it's called, okay? The sun-home, or more poetically the home of the sun, I suppose :B  
> 2\. Noct sometimes unconsciously goes for cuddles in his sleep after a bad dream, if his sleeping brain can feel the warmth of another person close enough. The boys have dealt with it all along and got used to it. Tbh nobody minds, they know it's just their King's subconscious mind seeking reassurance.  
> 3\. I REALLY AM SORRY, OKAY??
> 
> Feel free to yell at me in the comments. No, seriously, go for it. I want that. Srsly. For real.


	22. Feel Like Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alive." The one word, spoken like an order, shook Noctis to his core.

Still not daring to say a word, Noctis focused on landing the ship as fast and as efficiently as possible. He was too afraid of what he would see in Ardyn's face to look. As they got closer he could better assess the damage, and bit by bit his suspicions were confirmed. Most of the camp was destroyed, the tents collapsed in what seemed to have been a violent struggle. Various things were strewn about chaotically, suggesting something inhuman was to blame. Setting the machine down he caught glimpses of bodies littering the ground, bathed in red. He felt sick as he realized his first instinct was to be relieved that it was that instead of empty clothes. With a metallic thump the airship touched the ground and he turned off the engine. When he turned around, Ardyn wasn't in his chair anymore and he heard the side door opening. Noct ran after him.

Only now they could see the full scope of the damage. It resembled the aftermath of an animal attack, but the King knew all too well that no animal could take down seasoned soldiers, and definitely not a full camp of them. He finally looked at his friend, finding him already busy checking on the bodies. He'd search for signs of life first, then identify them and move on. So far he seemed to have no luck finding anyone living. What really grabbed Noct's attention was the look on his face - focused and determined, nothing more or less. As if the task at hand was the only thing existing in the world, leaving no place for anything else. Snapping out of his initial shock, Noctis quickly joined him, trying to get to everyone as efficiently as possible. For all he'd been through, he'd never seen this many dead people. It was horrible, made even more so by the fact that he recognized most of them. Faces stuck in grimaces of fear, arms that had been raised in futile defense, wounds caused by unnaturally sharp claws. Most were either still holding their weapons or clearly lost them just before being struck down. The King wanted to cry and scream in rage at once but forced it down and pressed on, pulled forward by the hope of finding someone still clinging to life and by loyalty to the Prince.

As they progressed through the camp, they came across one of the tents that had been partially burned. It didn't seem like the damage was caused by open flame, mostly charred but not turned to ash, with tendrils of black soot extending from it and crawling through the ground in erratic patterns. Thunderbombs, Noct thought, the realization further confirming what the cause of all the mayhem was. They made quick work of checking on everyone, no words exchanged through the whole process. Perhaps the most odd sight of all was the chocobo pen, still holding the birds who appeared no more than a little stressed by the situation.

It was on the other side of the camp, at the edge of the forest that they found the ones they were most intently looking for. A thick trail of blood led them there. Furi's body laid propped up against a tree, his Shield covering him protectively with her own. Volpes must've dragged him away in hopes of saving him but perished herself before help could come. Noctis pushed by his friend and went to check them for signs of life, as useless at it obviously was, in a bid to protect Ardyn from at least that experience. The bodies were cold, unmoving, with no pulse to be felt under the thick layer of drying blood. He stayed down, crouching next to them, with no idea what to do now that he'd confirmed what they both knew. He looked at the Prince at last and saw him slowly, almost carefully going down on his knees, letting tears he must've been holding in all this time flow freely at last. Strangest of all, he didn't even look angry. Just sad, broken, empty. He cried quietly, didn't fight it. Unable to bear the sight any longer, Noct turned his gaze to the rust-colored ground in front of him. His hands balled into fists and he felt the scream of sadness and useless fury wanting to force its way out his throat. Respect kept him silent, though, as much as he shook with the effort to contain it. Angry tears formed in his eyes, but he refused to succumb to them, thinking it was up to him now to stay in control.

"Daemons?" the Prince asked eventually, the hoarse whisper reminding Noctis of the way he'd sounded in his dream. He nodded.

"Yeah. No other explanation." he replied, his own voice rough. Ardyn said nothing, and when the King risked a quick glance he found him kneeling on the ground just like he had before, traces of tears drying on his cheeks. It was getting dark now, especially under the trees where they were. Neither of them bothered to care.

Suddenly they heard a rustling sound in the forest. Long honed instincts had them getting up and preparing to fight instantly. Noct was the one to move forward and attempt to check it out. He nearly screamed when instead of a daemon he found himself face to face with a chocobo. The bird's eyes were wide and it almost tackled him to the ground. Recognising a human, however, it calmed down a bit, letting out a friendly greeting. It had its bridle on and he easily caught the reins and led it out from the trees. As the animal stepped out where there were still some traces of sunlight Noctis noticed the blood on its feathers. It was only then that he looked at the chocobo's back and saw the person sitting there. When he moved to check on them Ardyn was already there, gently lowering the body to the ground. Thinking he'd be more useful that way, the King returned to holding the bird down so it wouldn't suddenly move.

"Alive." The one word, spoken like an order, shook Noctis to his core. 

He let go of the reins and crouched next to his friend. The man was indeed breathing shallowly. It was hard to tell how exactly he was hurt, since he was covered in blood all over. The Prince's vague gesture was enough to let Noct know what to do. He went for his friend's inner coat pockets, quickly producing a vial of some sort of curative. He handed it over and watched it get crushed above the person's chest and release a faint stream of magic that trickled down and disappeared. It caused hardly any change, save for his breathing evening out a bit. The gold-feathered bird poked at the King's shoulder gently, concerned.

"Can we move him?" Noct asked, hoping his companion had more experience with this than he did. Ardyn nodded sharply.

"Help me." he said.

Together they gently moved the man into the ship where they laid him down on one of their mattresses. It was only now, in the magitek lights that they switched on when they entered that Noctis was able to identify the person. It was Passeris. With Ardyn's quiet instructions they checked him over, discovering a large wound on his back and another one on his right shin, in addition to countless smaller injuries. All seemed to be the result of daemon claws. The Prince attempted to clean the wounds as much as it was possible without disturbing the man. It was best to let him rest, he'd said. Noct listened to him without argument. Soon they were done with all they could do at the moment and he felt they had to make decisions.

"What now?" he asked carefully. The way his friend's head snapped up, he must've been lost in thought or maybe just shock. It took a moment for his eyes to focus on the King.

"I... suppose we should go, get him some real help." he rasped, indicating the unconscious Pas with a tilt of his head. "There isn't much more we can do ourselves, save for watching over him. Magic won't help him further." he said, a bit more coherently as he obviously gathered his thoughts. 

Noctis was about to agree with him when they heard the low, threatening rumble of a daemon outside. Immediately the Prince got up, his face determined as he was filled with new conviction. It took the King a moment to realize what was even happening.

"Where are you going?" he asked. The other man stopped, but didn't so much as turn to face him. Noct got up as well and put his hand firmly on the Prince's shoulder. "Ardyn." he called more forcefully.

"I need to do this." the Prince replied. In a flash, the pieces clicked in Noctis' head and he understood what his friend meant. He sighed, bracing himself for what he was about to say.

"It's not them. I know we didn't find a few but it can't be them." Ardyn tensed as if he was going to shake his hand off, but remained in the same spot. "The Scourge doesn't work that fast. Judging from the state of things... I doubt anyone lived long enough to become infected, anyway." His friend deflated, accepting the words as truth. He stood there, looking at the ground now, for a long moment.

"What about him?" he asked finally, barely above a whisper. Noct tried coming up with a reassurance but found he had none to give.

"I have no idea. We're going to have to watch him..." he said, refusing to finish the sentence.

"And kill him if it becomes necessary." Ardyn said, emotionless. Noctis didn't respond. "Before we go. We need to at least... At least the king has to return to the Citadel." he announced, uncharacteristically getting mixed up in his words.

"Yeah. Sure. Let's go." the King replied, gathering his own thoughts. "How do we do this?"

"Try not to attract their attention. We have no need for pointless fights."

After that they carefully exited the airship. The chocobo which had followed them before was still crowding the side entrance, the door too small for it to fit through. They left it there for the time being. Noct assessed their surroundings, finding only a couple of goblins prowling the camp, though the eerie glow told him there had to be either bombs or flans approaching from the outskirts. He took point, determined to clear the way for his friend. If he got to unleash some of his rage on a daemon while he was at it, all the better. He only had to cut down two as they walked, dispatching one with a perfectly executed warp-kill and slashing the other across its disgusting face as it stumbled too close. He was a little surprised, if thankful, that Ardyn allowed him to take care of the fighting without protest. They made it to the tree soon after. No daemons seemed to be nearby, which allowed them to take their time gently lifting the bodies. Noctis took Volpes, feeling he had no right to touch the soldier king. This time the Prince was the one to go first. Noct wanted to pass him and protect him, but before he could a flan crossed Ardyn's path. Without a moment of hesitation, the older man released his Armiger, instantly killing the beast. The King followed with his immediately after, two sets of crystal weapons lighting up their path as they spun around them in protective circles. They made their way to the ship like that, carrying their fallen family to safety, as late and useless as it was. They dismissed the ancient weapons there and entered, again ignoring the bird that tried to follow. As they deposited the bodies gently on the ground, Noctis noticed that unlike Furi's, the Shield's eyes were still open, frozen on how she undoubtedly tried to fight death that claimed her. He closed them gently. As he got up he saw Ardyn was about to leave once more.

"What else?" he asked.

"The birds." Confused, but not questioning, Noct followed him outside. The path to the chocobo pens was short and they were able to avoid any daemons. There, the Prince opened the gate and began one by one taking any tack they still had on them off the birds.

"What are you doing?"

"They will find their way back if we let them." now the Prince's voice was eerily calm, the only emotion there a heavy edge of sadness. The King frowned.

"To Insomnia? It's days away."

"They will know the way. You'll see." Noctis accepted the answer, if only for lack of another choice. He joined in releasing the chocobos, patting each one of them on the side and silently wishing them luck. 

Once the birds were gone into the forest they returned to the airship once more. Ardyn asked Noct to open the main entrance so he could allow the golden chocobo on board. Noctis did as instructed and waited in the cockpit afterwards. His friend joined him shortly after.

"Go." he said only as he sat in the copilot's chair. The King did just that, now that they were above land able to correctly set the course on his own.

"You don't have to sit here. I'll take care of this." he offered. It was a long while before his companion slowly nodded and got back to his feet. He hovered near the door to the back half of the ship, uncertain.

"I'll... I'll come back... Later..." he said. Noctis used all his energy to produce what he hoped was a reassuring smile for him.

"Okay. Take your time." With one final nod, the Prince disappeared into the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL ABOARD THE PAIN TRAIN!!! :'D
> 
> Headcanons:   
> 1\. Soldiers who've never encountered daemons before are kinda useless against them. I'm not happy about this but feel like this was realistic. Remember, daemons are ex-people, rigth? That means that with the rapid drop in population numbers during the fall of Solheim there weren't many people left alive enough to become daemons. You don't turn if you're killed before the Scourge can claim you.  
> 2\. Again, we see daemons uninterested in animals. I figure if the Scourge is a parasite, it has ways of making its victims target things that can be used to pass the parasite on.   
> 3\. The chocobo returned to the camp once it realized its rider was unconscious. They're brave birds, well trained, but don't do well on their own and a lone bird will generally return to its "flock". The group of birds at the end will seek home because they already have their family with them.  
> 4\. The first aid in this chapter seems off. That's actually because as counterintuitive as it seems, it's safest to not cover wounds made by daemons. Due to the time passed most of the bleeding had stopped, and the rest of it was left unattended to increase the chances of his body repelling the Scourge. If you ever get attacked by a daemon, you now know what to do. Congrats ;P  
> 5\. You may have noticed before, but I am not going with the curatives we see in the game. Because they're energy drinks. There were no energy drinks in Ardyn's times. Duh. What they have is rudimentary curative magic, rare and difficult to create. It... doesn't work so well.  
> 6\. OKAY so I promised I would tell you how this happened originally. Since without Noct Ardyn wasn't yet back on his journey, he was at the Citadel when the attack took place. They were alerted that something was wrong when the camp didn't make contact at the set time. Ardyn was the one to lead the rescue mission, and got to stumble onto the camp about a week later than he did now (it was an even uglier sight, as you can imagine. Wild animals and decomposition. Ew.) It was that event that caused him to search for the other Royal Arms in the original timeline.
> 
> okay, so everything is pain and nothing is good rn >.> It seriously hurt writing this... OH WELL, what can you do. I will probably produce some sort of fluffy AU short on my tumblr today to shake off the sadness (so that I may return to this sufferfest tomorrow with a fresh mind) so you're welcome to come hang out there. And please keep commenting! I love hearing from you guys so much~! <3 And of course, thank you to everyone who's stuck with this fic so far and especially all the lovely commenters <3


	23. Coda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you going to be okay?"

Noctis was left alone with his thoughts, staring straight ahead through the front window but barely noticing anything. It would be a much shorter trip now that they had the airship, but it would still take two days at least. He had no idea how that was going to work out, what they were even supposed to do with themselves. It struck him now that he'd finally come across something that really was different about the past in a bad way. He'd missed things like his phone and games before, wished they had the energy drinks that would come so handy combined with his magic, wistfully thought about the Regalia as they spent hours upon hours in the saddle... but nothing like this. None of those really left him at a loss as to how to deal with it before. How were they supposed to spend this trip? 

He worried for Ardyn. He knew from experience just how hard losing a parent was, and yet had no idea how to help his friend. He supposed the way he'd dealt was by having too many other things go wrong at the same time, which was something he really didn't wish on anyone. It also puzzled him how the Prince had shown no signs of anger. Judging by his own reaction to news like that, and even this situation, he'd expect him to lash out. Hell, he'd probably know how to deal with that much better than he knew how to handle the silence and overwhelming sadness. Like he often did, the King found himself wishing his companions were there. He could ask Ignis for advice, let Prompto work his magic with his incredible people skills and empathy, lean on Gladio's ability to weather any storm with calm indifference. 

He couldn't tell for certain in the night but Noct was pretty sure hours had passed. He started wondering if his friend was okay with more and more intensity. Finally he gave up on trying to give him all the space he needed and decided to check on him. He got up and quietly peeked into the back. He saw Ardyn kneeling next to his father's body and he was pretty sure he faintly heard him whispering something. Immediately he retreated, feeling bad for intruding.

"Don't go." the Prince said quietly. Noctis hesitated for a moment, but came in. He could see Ardyn must've managed to clean Passeris up a little more in the meantime and the man was looking marginally better now. "Is it time I replaced you?" 

"No, I can handle things." Noct replied, ready to keep flying all the way if necessary. "I just wanted to check on you." For a moment the older man looked like he had no idea how to react to that.

"Thank you, I'm... dealing with it." he said at last. The King had his doubts but thought it'd be cruel to voice them.

"Is there something I can do?" Noctis asked, certain he didn't even sound genuine through all the awkwardness he felt. Despite that, Ardyn smiled a little.

"I'll join you in a minute." The King nodded and left.

True to his word, the Prince entered the cockpit soon after. He sat in the copilot's chair and Noct was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that he had no idea what to say. He fidgeted in his seat, looking around the small room for clues, but found nothing. Finally, he settled for the obvious.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"You tell me." Ardyn replied immediately. Noct produced some sort of questioning inarticulate noise and instantly kicked himself mentally for being unable to form sentences now of all times. His companion explained anyway. "I recall you're the one who's been through this already. Tell me." The younger man thought about it for a second. He didn't want to bother his friend with his own problems, but then again he just asked for it. With a quiet sigh, he decided to trust Ardyn's judgement.

"You get used to it, I guess. Not entirely, but... it's hard to explain." he tried. "I didn't have time for mourning, you know. There were the Tombs and the Empire and Luna and with all of Insomnia gone I think it didn't even register for a long-" he stopped himself, suddenly aware he said more than he meant to. His friend's look was searching, but he didn't demand answers. Noctis was torn but in the end his inner longing to finally share his pain won with wanting to protect his companion. "He... He planned it." he said, stubbornly focusing on the instruments in front of him. His eyes stung already. "There was a peace treaty, or supposed to be anyway. It was a plot, to get into the city and steal the Crystal. And dad knew." he distantly hoped he was making any sense at all with how disjointed his sentences were. "He agreed to the treaty to get me out of Insomnia. It was part of the deal that I'd marry Luna, and dad sent us off... We thought that was all there was to it." feeling his voice about to break he paused and looked at his companion. He immediately regretted it as he felt tears about to fall and realized it must've been obvious to anyone who looked at him. Trying not to get caught up in his shame he continued. "I learned after everything that dad knew what would happen. That the city would fall and he'd be-" Noct ended up unable to choke out the word. "He almost told me, you know. Just as we were leaving. Well, not really but I know I could've figured it out if I only paid attention..." 

"It only seems so because you know already, Noct." Ardyn's gentle voice interrupted his downward spiral of guilt and Noctis was suddenly very aware of - and very guilty for - making it about himself when it shouldn't be. He was supposed to help his friend, not whine about his own past. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't dump this on you now of all times." he tried apologizing, almost panicking now convinced he'd made everything worse.

"Who is Luna? You've never mentioned her." the Prince probed carefully, ignoring Noct's attempts at an apology. Suddenly the younger man remembered just why he hadn't told him about her. The second biggest reason, at least, since the main was that the memories were too painful to recall. Ardyn must've read his expression because his eyes widened, yet he didn't retract the question. Noctis figured that if he were to ruin everything he might as well go all the way.

"Luna was... A friend." he started. For a moment his companion looked down, surely catching onto the past tense. "She was amazing. I'd known her since I was a kid, and even though we never saw each other afterwards we kept sending messages. Umbra delivered them for us." at the mention of that Noct mustered half a smile. "I'd tell her about everything. Literally. And she was always there for me, and always knew what to say to make everything better. Not just to me, either. When I heard her speech in Altissia- It was great." he finished lamely.

"What happened to her?" the question was careful, but sure. A quick glimpse told Noct the Prince wasn't looking at him.

"Ardyn, this isn't the time to-" he tried explaining, frightened of making things even harder on his friend.

"If you refuse to answer it's as good as telling me, Noct." the older man's voice was louder and certain now, insistent. "So please, give me the dignity of hearing it from you, even if I know already." It took Noctis a moment to gather his courage and say it.

"You killed her." he choked out, throat tight. "I'm not even sure why, aside from... She'd completed the Covenant by then, it was the final one." he finished quietly.

"Aside from what?" now Ardyn's voice was as quiet as his, incredibly gentle.

"I think you wanted me to hate you." Noctis replied, surprising himself. He'd suspected for a long time, sure, but he'd never voiced the thought or even dared to really  _ think  _ it.

"Why?"

"So that I wouldn't hesitate when it was time to destroy you." The Prince was quiet for a long while and when Noct finally dared to look at him he found him lost in thought and maybe a little panicked. "What is it?" he risked asking after a few tense seconds. It was a few more before he got an answer.

"You know, Noct, I've been thinking recently about how I wished you would hate me so it'd be easier for you to put me down when the time comes."

"No." Noct spoke up with sudden conviction. "Ardyn, you can't blame yourself for this. None of it has happened for you. You didn't do it. And I don't blame you for it either. Not- Not you, at least." he said, losing some steam at the end as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. It seemed Ardyn hadn't heard him from the way he continued to stare off into space. Noctis refused to let him. "It's the same with this. You blame yourself because you care, because you love him and wish you could've done something. But you couldn't. You didn't know. And I swear I would've told you if I had any idea, and I wish I did... But it's done, and nobody is to blame." He quickly regretted his words as he saw his friend begin to cry again. He scrambled onto his feet and practically leaped next to him, crouching next to the chair. Ardyn turned to look at him, open this time and completely unashamed of his tears.

"Thank you, Noct." he said quietly. "You're right. We need to focus on what's coming next instead." At that point the King was reminded of the time on the train to Gralea. Maybe Gladio had been right, maybe it was really best to stop whining and deal with things as they came. But instead of taking on that role, he realized he never could say that. He shook his head violently.

"No. No, that's not-" he paused, started over trying for something more coherent as he went back to his seat. "This is yours, okay? You get to be sad. You get to mourn. You get to take your time with this. Deal with it properly, don't just... Don't just pretend it's not there." Ardyn openly stared at him for a long time.

"Who would've thought, the sleeping prince is a wise one." he joked weakly at last. Noctis actually snorted.

"Yeah, comes with having a lot of practice at being stupid I guess." the King replied, prompting a smile from his friend. "Come on, you must be exhausted. When was the last time you ate something?" he asked, easier now. Suddenly it wasn't so hard to breathe, like the air became lighter.

"No idea." his companion admitted.

"Well I can at least help with that." Noct announced before leaving the cockpit.

It wasn't simple by far, and he found himself trying hard to not look at anything or anyone beyond the bags he was rummaging through for food. He failed a number of times, got distracted once or twice forgetting what he was supposed to be doing. Still, when a good ten minutes later he walked back in with two full plates he was able to smile as he handed one over.

"Thank you." the Prince said. He didn't seem hungry and was taking forever while Noctis was having to stop himself from inhaling the whole meal in seconds.

"Lettuce?" he asked, praying to all gods he wasn't going too far and the attempt at levity wouldn't backfire. He almost couldn't believe it when Ardyn's fork found his plate and eloped with the vegetable. Not allowing himself time to overthink it he reached for a slice of meat. "And that will be the payment, thank you." Before long he spied the Prince throwing furtive glances at his radish.

"Will you be eating that?" came the question after Noct bravely ignored them for a minute.

"I don't know, will I?" he chuckled.

With the help of such distractions they both finished their food, or rather, somewhat equal quantities of food fairly quickly. Uncertainly, Noct allowed himself to think that perhaps they would be okay after all, once enough time had passed. They managed to keep a quiet conversation going afterwards, carefully avoiding even remotely serious subjects. Sadness still hung heavy in the air, but didn't feel quite as oppressive anymore. A while after they finally lapsed into silence Noctis noticed his friend had fallen asleep. Happy, though beyond exhausted, he allowed himself a tired smile as he focused on keeping the ship on course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought they were going to make it to Insomnia in this chapter, but turns out they had a LOT to talk about. Well, good for them I suppose. And you get to spend longer on the PainTrain thanks to that! Wheee~! /sarcasm
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. To clarify, Noctis is not ashamed of crying. He knows it's a natural thing and he allows himself that, as seen in the game. Good job, Noct! The reason he's ashamed in this particular instance is because he feels like by allowing himself to cry he's taking the focus from Ardyn's suffering. He doesn't want to act like he thinks he's got the biggest problems around here, basically.  
> 2\. Idk if I has any other headcanons here.  
> 3\. Oh, right, if you ask Noctis if Gladio was right to yell at him on the train and in Cartanica, he'll say ABSOLUTELY YES. But when confronted with the idea of treating someone else like that he can't possibly do it. Deep inside he knows Gladio hurt him and overstepped his boundaries, but he doesn't let himself think that because a) he doesn't want to think bad things about Gladio, and b) he's pretty harsh with himself and believes that if he got a kick in the ass, then he must've deserved it.
> 
> Many thanks for sticking with me on this PainTrain journey~! Keep telling me what you think guys, I'd love some opnions on how this fic is progressing and where it's going to go from here. And again, many thanks to those who commented! <3 Every comment is like a most wonderful present and I love receiving them. They give me strength to keep writing, and let me tell you I need encouragement for these sad chapters, they're hard on me too! ^^; 
> 
> Also, I asked on tumblr but I'll do it again here. I feel like with chapter 22 this fic kinda left the "Gen" area and needs its rating upped. But I have no idea how to rate it! Help!! ^^;


	24. Hyperactive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We only need to watch for the Scourge."

There were screams in his head, smoke filling his vision, and when he tripped on a body he looked and saw a friend. Then, he jerked awake violently, hitting his head on the back of the chair. Still gripped by the surge of panic that followed him from the dream, he tensed and nearly lashed out at the person in front of him.

"Noct. Noct, calm now." the familiar, gentle voice made him pause and take a deep breath.

He came to his senses to find himself sitting in the pilot's chair in the airship, his friend crouching on the ground in front of him with one hand placed on Noct's knee and the other on his arm. Ardyn looked worried, but was still holding himself together enough to be calming Noctis and not the other way around. Slowly, the King pieced together that he must've dozed off while flying the ship, no surprise really with how exhausted he was, and then had a nightmare disturbingly similar to the scene they'd found at the camp. He was suddenly embarrassed for not dealing with it better, and for worrying his companion when he was supposed to be taking care of the Prince. 

"Ah, sorry, bad dream." he squirmed uncomfortably under Ardyn's searching gaze. The other man frowned.

"Another one of-?" he asked vaguely.

"No, no." Noct shook his head "Just a nightmare." the Prince responded with a nod. Then, tentatively, he pulled Noctis in for a hug. Used to being helped through his nightmares by his friends, the King instinctively relaxed into it. It was a good few seconds before he realized how weird it was and how stiff and awkward was Ardyn's grip on him. "Uh, Ardyn?"

"Yes?" the response was immediate and sounded as out of place as humanly possible.

"You're, uh. Into hugs now?" Noct ventured. His friend scoffed entirely too loudly into his ear.

"Nonsense. I despise  _ hugs. _ " he said the word like something unfamiliar and frankly disgusting. The younger man raised an eyebrow, his chin still resting on his companion's shoulder.

"Soooo... why?"

"It helps you, does it not?" Ardyn replied and it was so simple and matter-of-fact that Noctis couldn't help but laugh. "Wha-"

"Sorry. Thank you. I appreciate it. I'm good though." he interrupted the Prince's question before it had a chance to come out. At his words, his friend stiffened even more and loosened his hold a little.

"Should I let you go, then?" he asked awkwardly.

"A minute?" the King couldn't help but ask, feeling how difficult it was to turn down the comfort now that it had been offered.

They stayed like this for a couple of minutes in fact, and as Ardyn gradually relaxed as well Noct couldn't help but be reminded of something Ignis had told him years before. It was when Noctis was having a hard time accepting any comfort at all. Being a teenager then he suddenly started feeling awful about letting himself be hugged and calmed after he'd had a nightmare, even though he'd been okay with it before. His advisor, as always, had objective and undeniable words for him, ones that he had no choice but to accept. It was the middle of the night and they were sitting in the kitchen of the tiny apartment Noct had gotten just weeks before, drinking hot chocolate prepared by Ignis. The young prince was shifting awkwardly, feeling bad for his outburst from a few minutes before, but still adamant that he'd been in the right. Then, with his usual detached and professional tone, Ignis started talking about how physical contact was one of the basic human needs. No matter how one felt about it, and no matter whether they were even  _ aware  _ of it, everyone needed a certain dose of it to keep functioning at their optimum capacity. He'd actually used that phrase, too. According to him, it was possible to go very long without it, sure, but eventually it would wear you down. Noctis couldn't help but agree, it was like a dull pain you couldn't place, that you were never even entirely sure you actually felt. He supposed Ardyn hadn't had too many chances to remedy that, not since childhood at least. As much as he hated to get so close to anyone, it was bound to have had an impact.

In the end it was the King who pulled away, looking at his friend uncertainly. The Prince valiantly produced something akin to a smile before shuffling back to his seat. He seemed less worried, at least, and now that Noct got a good look he also appeared much less exhausted than before. Noctis had been awake for a few hours before succumbing to his tiredness himself, so he knew Ardyn slept at least that long. He still looked like he could use more, but Noctis supposed they'd have to take what they could get on this trip.

"Thanks, really." he said, noting that his friend was having some trouble processing what just happened. The Prince settled somewhat.

"I'm glad to have been of service." he replied, reverting to his usual phrases. Noct smiled.

"So, how are you feeling?" he asked gently. His companion actually considered the question for a while.

"Better, I think. Not good, but better."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. I guess it's the best it's gonna get for a while." Noct told him honestly. Ardyn nodded. 

"It's... right that way." he agreed. Noctis suddenly remembered something.

"We gotta check on Passeris!" His friend remained calm.

"I've been there just a little while ago. Besides, unless we have to deal with... other things" he gracefully omitted the word 'Plague' "there isn't much that's going to change anyway." The King frowned. That didn't exactly sound right given that the man was nearly killed by daemons, even to his medically ignorant ears.

"Shouldn't we keep an eye on him? In case, I don't know, something goes wrong? He's looking pretty bad..." he protested.

"Not necessary. Unless further injured, the magic we used will keep him alive. Not getting better, though, but they'll be able to take care of that at the Citadel. We only need to watch for the Scourge." when he did utter the word, it sounded casual, as if he'd never had a problem with it. Noctis knew better, but was still impressed.

"That's good. Not as good as some Elixir would be, but still." Ardyn tilted his head.

"And what is that?"

"Uh, energy drink." the younger man was suddenly made aware of the two millennia long generation gap.

"Explain?"

"It's just stuff people drink. Reacts with the magic, though." Noct reflexively flexed his hand, making a tiny bit of blue light shine from it. "It basically heals you instantly."

"Sounds like a luxury to have." the Prince hummed thoughtfully.

"You don't appreciate it until it's gone." Noctis chuckled bitterly. His friend nodded. 

They spent some time on quiet conversation and looking out at the world below them. It was afternoon again and they were about to pass above the Disc. Soon Noctis had to take manual control of the ship to navigate around the huge meteor shard. It was far too hot aside from reaching high up into the air and trying to fly above it would've been too dangerous As such, the King had to focus on flying while Ardyn disappeared into the back. He came back once Noct was done locking the controls again, and the younger man had no idea how much time had passed, having been entirely engrossed in what he was doing. The light from the meteor skewed his perception of the time of day, so despite it being evening he couldn't tell by the sun's position. He supposed it couldn't have been long, however, and gladly accepted the offered meal. Again, he fussed at his food, dumping unwanted bits onto his friend's plate and stealing ones he did enjoy. It helped keep the atmosphere a bit lighter, at least, so he was determined to stick to it. 

The Prince seemed to be humoring him more than really taking part, but given the situation Noctis would take what he could get. He had no way of making any  _ real  _ change, after all. He used the long silences to try and put everything into perspective in his own head. He'd thought his life was at an end so recently, yet here he was living, trying to help,  _ mourning  _ with this man who'd taken everything from him. Or not that man, but rather his past self, before he'd been broken by something the King couldn't even begin to imagine. He'd jumped right into this new world and intended to keep doing what he could to the full extent of his ability, but he'd had no chance to think about it. He was shaken from his thoughts by Ardyn's suggestion that he should get some sleep. He shook his head vigorously.

"Nah, I'm good." His friend just kept staring at him, one eyebrow raised skeptically. "I really am. I'm having this thing when you get ridiculously awake instead of sleepy." the King attempted to explain.

"Noct, you sleep more than a baby kitten." the older men stated calmly.

"Usually. I promise I'm okay." he said with emphasis, looking his companion in the eye. "When I feel I need to sleep I'll let you know, okay?"

"Like last time?" Ardyn remained skeptical, making Noct realize he really didn't have the strongest of arguments. He felt almost  _ too  _ awake, for whatever reason. It wasn't the most typical of him, unless he counted long nights of studying on entirely too many cans of energy drinks, but he didn't complain. At least Ardyn would be able to rest.

"We're past the Disc, at any rate." he changed his strategy. "It's straight flying at least to the coast now. Worst case scenario we'll adjust in the morning." he reasoned. 

"Have your way, then." the Prince gave up with a shrug.

For the rest of the night Noctis sat at the controls, oddly focused on that one thing. Meanwhile, his friend sat with him, talked and kept quiet in turns, went into the back a few times, staying longer some of those and promptly returning with snacks on others, and finally settled in his chair for a nap. The King turned towards him and observed for a few seconds.

"Want me to... help you sleep?" he asked finally.

"Yes, please." The reply shocked him and for a moment he just stared. 

"Okay." he replied too late and moved closer. 

It felt different this time, both harder and easier somehow. Noct felt like there was more power at his disposal, even though after last time he did it he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do it again without absorbing more. For a moment he even felt like the stream of energy was about to slip from his control and flow freely. At the same time, the resistance was stronger too, the tension in Ardyn's body and mind seemingly clutching at him and refusing to be chased away. Gradually Noctis managed to get into it, gaining a firmer grasp on his magic while figuring out how best to help his friend. Bit by bit, he succeeded in calming him down and watched him fall asleep.

After that, he stayed wide awake all through the night, the Prince's quiet breathing a steady rhythm next to him. He watched the dawn break almost precisely in front of the airship, the forests of Leide slowly emerging from the darkness. Looking down at them, he wondered how far the daemons had gotten by then. He supposed this area would be safe for a long while still, but couldn't help picturing the creatures lurking under the trees, hearing phantoms of their voices in his head. It was only when the sun was fully above the horizon and he could clearly see the waters of Lucinia Sound shimmering in the distance that he began to feel tired. It progressed in a flash, too, and within seconds he felt like he would faint at any moment. Not waiting for that, he reached out and gently squeezed Ardyn's arm. The man woke instantly, glanced at their surroundings and focused on Noct.

"Morning? You should've woken me up sooner." he chastised.

"I didn't feel sleepy." the King evaded.

"Right, you certainly don't look tired..."

"That's why I woke you up." Noct countered with a smirk.

"Oh, alright. Get some sleep now?" the Prince asked, getting up from his chair and stretching.

"Yeah, I was counting on that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I thought I wasn't gonna make it. Difficult one, and besides I was kinda sick so... BUT IT'S HERE NOW! ENJOY!! The PainTrain takes a small detour through FluffTown.
> 
> Headcanons:   
> 1\. "calm now" is a thing Ardyn got used to saying when taking care of chocobos, oddly enough. He later carried that phrase into his career as Healer.   
> 2\. Ardyn is actually very much NOT a physical person  
> 3\. Remember the good old auto-life status/spell? It makes sure whatever happens for a period of time doesn't kill the character as it revives them instantly, BUT it only gives them 1-5HP. That's how this curative works :3
> 
> Okay it's 4am hav fun yes bai luv ya <3 ;_;


	25. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The king is dead, your Majesty."

Ardyn woke him up hours later. Noct looked around, struggling to keep his eyes open. The cockpit was filled with a strong, eerily white glow, and it took him a moment to realize where it came from. They were getting close to the Citadel now and the light at its top was on, the only thing lighting up the rest of the city. Noctis squinted into it, trying to get a good look at the building, but only ended up making his eyes sting. He looked at his friend, blinking furiously.

"We're just about there?" He thought the Prince smiled but could've been wrong with the colorful phantom lights still swimming in his vision. He squinted a little more.

"I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to try landing this thing myself." 

"Ah, true. Better not wreck the Citadel, right?" Noct teased.

"Something like that."

They switched seats then and the King unlocked the controls. He flew the airship for a few minutes, getting ever closer to the light, before he realized he had no idea what to do next.

"Where do I land though?" he asked. Ardyn actually shrugged.

"I don't know. Try finding someplace flat and with no people?" he suggested. Noct groaned.

"Okay, it's on you." he announced before directing all his attention to finding a landing spot. It would've been a fairly easy task, he supposed, if it weren't for the light shining in his face and the absolute darkness of everything else.

As they got closer the Prince actually offered some useful advice, informing Noctis of where the largest clear spots of land were and where he could expect houses, roads and random pillars. It was a difficult and more than a little stressful task for both of them. When they finally touched ground some half an hour later they were mentally exhausted from it, with eyes tearing up from the effort. They continued to sit in their chairs for a few minutes before shakily getting up and heading outside.

"No welcoming committee?" Noct asked as they opened the side door and stepped into the night.

"I suppose someone ought to have been woken up by our arrival."

"At least  _ someone  _ should be posted outside, right?" Noctis ventured. He was kind of hoping his ancestors hadn't been reckless enough to not have anyone guarding the Citadel. Before Ardyn had a chance to respond they were approached by a very alarmed person. The man was wearing Lucian blacks and blended perfectly with his surroundings.

"Who goes there?" the tone was commanding and clipped, sure sign of a soldier.

"Just us, dear friend." the Prince responded in his usual friendly voice "Please let the staff know we've returned, there is someone injured on board and we need help moving them." The guard stood still, apparently shocked, for a few seconds before bowing.

"Yes, your Highness. At once." he said, then turned on his heel and ran.

"That went well." the King commented sarcastically.

"Hopefully they will hurry." Ardyn replied quietly. 

They didn't have to wait long before a group of people - Noctis supposed around eight or so, but didn't bother counting - appeared. They crowded them first, but Ardyn quickly directed them into the ship. He'd told them to take care of Passeris first, get him inside and get healers for him. As Noct watched his friend give out quiet instructions, all still in that kind, calming voice of his, he wondered at the strength it took to keep everything under control after what had happened to him. He saw Ardyn pull one person, an older man who seemed to be overseeing the others, aside. They didn't go far enough that the King wouldn't hear them, so he assumed it was okay for him to listen.

"I need an audience with the Queen, Liber." the Prince said. It looked like the man was surprised to hear it, but not enough to dare to question.

"Your Highness?" he said only.

"It is important enough to warrant waking her up, I promise you." Ardyn explained. At that, the staff member's eyes widened. He clearly didn't suspect his Prince of blowing things out of proportion. "We will be heading to the throne room. Try and put everything in place so we might go in immediately, please." The man bowed deeply at that.

"Yes, your Highness. I will do what I can." he turned and started walking away briskly before Ardyn was able to respond.

"Thank you." he said anyway, raising his voice only as much as he needed to in order to reach the man. Then he turned to look at Noctis, saying nothing.

"We better get going." the King half-said and half-asked.

"We need to do this as soon as possible."

"I know." Noct interrupted him, not wanting or needing an explanation. "Let's just go."

They set out at a fast pace, leaving the commotion behind them. Only once, just before entering the Citadel, Ardyn looked back. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and swallowed thickly before resuming their walk. Noct was desperate for some way to help him, to be of some use, but once again was left with no idea how to even begin to do that. In the end, he supposed, some things had to be hard and there was no going around that. Still, he kept a little closer as they walked, half a step behind his friend. He remembered how much such a small gesture could mean coming from his friends and wished to bring his companion similar comfort. At any rate, once they entered the building it was nearly impossible to tell anything was wrong with Ardyn. Noctis knew, of course, and could see the tension in the older man's face, the stiffness of his movements. But to all the world Ardyn Lucis Caelum appeared to be the same perfectly composed Prince, carrying his head high and wearing the calmest of expressions. 

The walk to the throne room was long on the best of days, and this time proved almost unbearable. They had to take stairs a few times where there normally were lifts since there was no power in the Citadel at this hour. Someone, presumably Liber, had the foresight to at least turn on the lights in the corridors they had to pass through. Not all of them were lit, hinting at the way power worked in the building, but there was always a lit place close enough by for them to navigate by. Finally they found themselves in the last wide room that ended with the doors to where the throne sat. Noctis had always been uneasy when approaching the place and it was only made worse with every new event that happened there. This time his apprehension reached new heights, though. He kept glancing at his friend before finally stopping and putting his hand on Ardyn's arm. The man stopped immediately and looked at him, puzzled.

"What is it?" he asked, perfectly feigning ignorance. If it weren't for the fact that he knew it to be a defense mechanism Noct would've wanted to punch him.

"Will you be okay?" he asked instead, halfway through the sentence realizing they kept saying that to each other, and that neither of them had any way of really knowing the answer.

"This isn't the moment to be asking that, Noct." the older man replied, sounding a little annoyed. Noctis shook his head.

"Should I go in with you?" he inquired, figuring maybe a more precise question would fare better. As it turned out, it did.

"Obviously. You were there, your testimony holds as much weight as mine."

"Testimony?" Noct demanded, but at that moment the door to the throne room opened slightly, revealing Liber.

"Your Highness?" the man started politely, waiting for them to turn to him before continuing. "Her Majesty will see you now." Ardyn mustered a smile for him.

"Thank you." he said, then started walking in this same proud, well rehearsed way as before. It was a mask, the King knew, and it hid things worse than the suffering that had been on display before. It made him worry twice as much as he already did to see his friend like this. 

When they entered the throne room they found it looking exactly like they left it, right down to the exact pose in which the Queen sat the throne. The only difference was yellow magitek light replacing sunlight. It made the place look unreal and bleak, or maybe that was just Noct's mind projecting its own feelings onto the image. The Prince walked up to the platform halfway up the stairs and stopped there. Noctis had the sense to stay one step behind. They both bowed.

"You bring news, my son?" the Queen asked, her voice cold and distant and somehow impossibly perfect.

"Yes, your Majesty." Ardyn replied curtly.

"Tell me, then." her son nodded and Noctis thought there was just a split second of hesitation there.

"The king is dead, your Majesty." he said, and the King of Light wanted to scream. Too simple, too final, too detached. The woman on the throne barely narrowed her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked, voice just the same as before.

"Daemons. They attacked the camp while we were away, your Majesty."

"Were there survivors?"

"One. We had him transferred into the care of Citadel medics, my Queen." Ardyn said with another bow.

"Good. I will want to speak to him when he recovers." she announced.

"He was severely hurt but the daemons, your Majesty. We fear he may be carrying the Plague."

"Is he dangerous?" the Queen asked, unruffled still.

"Not for a while, I believe. We will know ahead of time." her son replied dutifully.

"Very well. Was there anything else?" this time the woman looked, inexplicably, at Noct. He frowned before he could stop himself. What did she mean, anything else? Her husband just died, along with his entire camp, daemons were at her city's door and she was asking him that? Did she care nothing for her king? Couldn't she see how her son suffered, at least? 

"I'm pretty sure that's disastrous enough." he replied without thinking.

"Noct, don't." Ardyn cut in immediately, sounding so commanding now that the King shut his mouth instinctively afraid of the consequences. It only took him a second to recover from that reaction, though. Still, if his friend didn't want it, he wouldn't protest.

"I apologize, your Majesty." he ground out, forcing himself to bow. "I believe the Prince has told you everything." The Queen nodded as if nothing happened.

"In that case you are dismissed. I trust you will keep me appraised." she said.

Noct forced down the impulse to yell at her and bowed again, in sync with his friend. They turned and left then, retracing their steps part of the way. As they walked in silence the younger man seethed internally. He'd been frustrated with his own father many times for similar reasons, for staying distant and level headed through everything that happened, and maybe this situation awakened that old anger in him, making him project. But still, he thought, the Queen's reaction was... There wasn't any reaction, and that was the problem. He'd expected everything from her, but not that. And sure, she appeared cold when he first met her, but nothing like this, nothing like ignoring the fact that thirty good people, her soldiers, were massacred by daemons days prior. He had no idea how close she'd been with Furi, really. He'd suspected they either didn't care much for their marriage, probably arranged like so many royal ones, or grew apart for some other reason. After all, Ardyn had said that his dad didn't spend time in the Citadel since the Queen's father died. Maybe it was the old king that Furisto was close to and agreed with, and the marriage was a way of incorporating a like minded noble into the family and nothing more? He'd have to ask Ardyn, which he obviously wasn't planning on, but still he couldn't help but think the Queen should've had  _ some  _ sort of reaction even if she didn't care about her husband. And if nothing else, he expected her to at least sympathize with her own son. He'd gotten the impression Ardyn and her were at least on speaking terms, if disagreeing a lot, and that just made her coldness all the more odd.

Then a thought struck him, what if it was Izunia? What if the lying bastard had already gotten his claws in her, made her despise Ardyn, not care about her people's fate... What if the traitor had already begun his campaign to replace the Crown Prince, starting from his own mother? He'd seen the man manipulate, play with his friend's feelings, and knew what he'd end up doing, if only vaguely. It made sense, Noctis thought, and he resolved to test that theory, to warn Ardyn and protect him this time, even if that put him against the Queen of Lucis.

"Noct, come to my room, please." Ardyn's voice interrupted his thoughts, calm as ever if carrying an unfamiliar edge. The King nodded quickly.

"Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a tiny bit earlier this time and I even feel somewhat awake and mostly coherent while writing this haha xD
> 
> Headcanons:   
> 1\. Past!Insomnia is a nightmare to navigate at night lmao. The contrast between the light and the deep shadows it casts is insane, very not cool to fly in.  
> 2\. the Citadel itself doesn't have landing platforms, and they were determined to land right at the door since they didn't want Pas to have to be transported any further.  
> 3\. yes, there are guards posted outside at all times. Ardyn just thinks they're kinda unnecessary and has rather realistic expectations regarding what they do on their night shifts... (they sleep)  
> 4\. Liber. Latin for book. Given the amount of staff the Citadel requires, there are multiple levels of command there, heh. So Liber is somewhat important, but far from THE head of staff.   
> 5\. Noctis got pissy, go figure
> 
> Okay, I wasn't very coherent on the last one, but I want to say I am still impossibly grateful for every one of you reading, giving kudos and leaving comments. It's the sole reason why I'm writing this - so that you guys may enjoy it. So keep telling me how you like this fic~!
> 
> Btw, in case anyone's interested, I led a little effort over on tumblr to make a Cards Against Humanity deck about FFXV. It's up, it's playable, it's fun, it's here https://impatient-traveler.tumblr.com/post/156399241641 First of all, you're welcome to use it yourself, and if you'd like to play with me then keep an eye on my blog, I post whenever I'm about to get into the game. Also, we're trying to make it playable on its own, and we need it to have 200 white cards for that. Right now it stands at 149 cards, so if you have those missing 51 suggestions hit me up with them ;) 
> 
> Okay, serious talk now for a second. A few chapters ago this fic passed 50k words. This is huge, seeing as the most I've written before this was 34k on my (failed) attempt at NaNoWriMo a year back. This feels like I've conquered something that proved too difficult before, and boy is it a good feeling. Funnily enough, we're nowhere close the end of this thing, either! ^^; The response has been pretty amazing too, I wanted to do a little shoutout here for everyone who contributed to this thing having over 4k views, 230 kudos and near 400 comments. This is beyond anything I ever could've expected and I feel so honored to be sharing this journey with you guys. THANK YOU~!!!


	26. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please Noct, you do not want to start this."

They made the rest of their way to the Prince's rooms in silence. Noct figured he must've wanted to talk about something but didn't bother really thinking about it as his mind was still full of dark scenarios including the Queen and Izunia. He should've seen it coming, he thought, should've told Ardyn more and sooner, maybe confronted the royal cousin before leaving Insomnia. He barely noticed when they arrived, only stopping a few steps into the room when he heard his companion close the door behind them. He turned to look at him at last.

"Noct, I know you meant well and I understand your reaction, but do not disrespect the Queen." he started out almost apologetic but by the end his voice was steel. Noctis gaped at him for a moment. So that's what it was about? He was only standing up for his friend!

"Yeah, well, she wasn't very respectful either, was she?" he challenged.

"Don't." Ardyn cut in. It only made the King more angry though, seeing his companion defend that behavior.

"How did she not care, Ardyn? All those people-" Noct seethed.

"Please Noct, you do not want to start this." the Prince warned.

"She's Queen, godsdammit! I never would've-" he was about to launch into a tirade but again Ardyn wouldn't let him.

"That just proves you were a worthless King!" they both lapsed into sudden, stunned silence at the words. For a long time they both stared, unsure how to proceed. It was the Prince who found his voice again first. "I apologize Noct, I shouldn't have..." he started.

"No. Don't." Noct said, the took a deep breath trying to gather his thoughts. "I should've shut up ten minutes ago." he admitted. 

He realized now that however well founded his rage, it wasn't the time for it. Not when it only added to his friend's problems. He'd let emotions get the better of him and for that he was genuinely sorry. He was just about to apologize when he heard the door open. They both turned abruptly to see the Queen enter. She seemed small and fragile all of a sudden, when not high up on her throne, and completely,  _ utterly  _ lost. There were tears on her face, Noct noticed with a start. And the way his friend's expression changed when he saw her, Noctis could swear he could practically hear his heart break. He could only stare as Ardyn crossed the room in three long strides and embraced his mother. She leaned into him, lost and alone and helpless. The King felt like the biggest ass on all of Eos.

He wished to be anywhere but there, if not to hide from his shame then to at least not interrupt the moment. It wasn't his to intrude upon, he thought. He stood there uselessly, watching the remainder of the royal family grieve. Ardyn was keeping himself together still, comforting his mother, and Noct suddenly realized that the display of princely coldness from before was for her benefit at least as much as it had been his friend's shield. He shifted awkwardly, trying to decide what to do with himself, but still nothing came to mind. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the two pulled away from each other just enough for the Queen to look at him. Without a word, she extended her hand towards Noctis, the other still clutching her son tight. Shocked, but too ashamed to protest Noct approached and was pulled into the hug. He felt even more horrible at that, more guilty of causing this woman additional pain. Still, his own grief and impotent anger at the situation won and he returned the embrace, holding both the others close.

He could feel Ardyn wasn't comfortable even now, but apparently admitted to himself that he needed the closeness as he made no move to pull away. They stayed like that for a long time, silently joined by their shared pain. It felt like family, oddly, at a time when Noctis expected and tried to be on his own. He let himself relax as much as he was able, telling himself it was a rare comfort and a situation that wouldn't happen again. At least not as long as nobody else died, his mind supplied bitterly, but he wouldn't let himself dwell on that. Finally, he found his voice.

"I'm sorry." he whispered. "To both of you. I wanted to help and just made things worse." he admitted.

"Noct, you've been with me through all of it. You've done much more than you give yourself credit for, my friend." Ardyn replied, and Noctis couldn't help but think the way he said that last word, how there was weight and finality in it, it wasn't just the Prince's polite habits showing. Despite having managed to keep his emotions in check until now, Noctis suddenly choked on a sob. Then he froze as he felt gentle fingers card through his hair. He looked up to see the Queen smiling at him kindly. Her eyes were mostly dry now, though red and sore, and he realized that aside from Luna he'd never seen anyone look so strong.

"You've stood by my son's side. You were ready to defy me in his defense." she said, voice hoarse "I could not be more grateful."

At that, Noct's last bits of control broke and he started crying. They all did, one by one, holding onto each other like a lifeline. It was painful and messy, and exactly the thing they needed.

"I wish I could've prevented it." Noctis admitted and it felt like letting himself indulge in something forbidden. He wasn't supposed to dwell on his failures, or admit his regrets.

"You had no way of knowing. No more than any of us did." Ardyn reminded him. The King pulled away slightly and looked at his friend in protest, unable to disagree openly without letting the Queen know who he really was. In response he got a slow, deliberate nod from the older man, telling him he was well aware of what Noct's arguments would be and wouldn't be convinced anyway.

"We all wish we could've done something." Ardyn's mother added. 

The moment of respite couldn't last forever and soon they stepped away from each other, all equally awkward in the aftermath of such an uncharacteristic display of their feelings. The Queen gathered herself the fastest, getting her breathing back in control with practiced ease and putting on a smile that while not happy was still definitely genuine. She gently wiped the tears from her son's cheeks before backing away once more.

"Get some rest if you can. I know you're both exhausted."

"I will do my best." Ardyn replied quietly. Her smile turned fond.

"I mean it. Please." she turned to Noct again "Make sure he takes care of himself."

"I... I will, promise." the King replied after the initial surprise of being asked for that. The woman nodded.

“And be kind to yourself, as well.” he added, shocking him entirely.

“Yes.” he replied automatically.

"I hope you will. Now, I'll be leaving you. Both of you, have a good night." she said before leaving the room as they said their goodbyes as well. After she was gone, Ardyn looked to Noct.

"I'm so sorry for what I said before." the King repeated, wanting to make it abundantly clear.

"So am I, Noct. As such, I believe we should just let the matter rest." Ardyn suggested. His voice was calm but his eyes betrayed worry over whether he'd be forgiven. It seemed preposterous to Noctis who already forgot he was supposed to be offended.

"Okay, let's do that." the younger man agreed. "Besides, your mom was right. We really should get some real sleep. In beds." he said, tentatively shifting the subject onto less morbid waters. It worked and Ardyn smiled.

"Ready to be reunited with the love of your life?" he teased.

"Oh yes. I missed that bed." Noctis replied dreamily. "So I guess I'll be going now." he half-asked, not wanting to leave if his friend still wanted to talk about something. The Prince nodded.

"Yes, you should. There will be things to take care of in the morning, so we should make the best of what's left of the night."

"Well." Noct suddenly felt awkward just leaving after all the emotions were dragged to the surface only moments before. "Goodnight, then." he went for the door.

"Goodnight, friend."

"Sure you don't need help falling asleep?" he asked, his hand hovering above the doorknob.

"I don't. But thank you for offering." his companion replied with a small smile.

Noctis left the room, wondering when and how exactly Ardyn had become okay with the idea of getting that kind of help. The shift from refusing and fighting the offers happened somewhere along the way and he couldn't pinpoint it. The corridors were still lit, surprisingly, and he had no trouble finding his room. Once inside he quickly got ready for bed, happily using the opportunity to shower, and slid under the covers. He realized once in bed that he forgot to pull the blinds shut but found he couldn't be bothered to get up again. All the exhaustion, mental as well as physical, of the trip seemed to catch up to him at once. He fell asleep in the eerie light, feeling as if the Moon itself was sitting right outside his window, looking in.

When he woke he felt more sore than he had going to bed. That, combined with the warmth made getting up a herculean effort, and one he resisted for a long while. The sun was up, however, and his friend would need his assistance. Noctis had never gotten to experience that part of losing a close relative, but he could figure out there were bound to be preparations to be made, decisions and changes regarding the late king's responsibilities, and finally a plan needed to be formed for the inevitable approach of the Plague. He forced himself into a sitting position, immediately feeling cold. He stretched, observing how his muscles protested. He hadn't thought he'd abused them nearly this much, but perhaps he was simply too used to having curatives whose potency levels were miraculous compared to what they had to work with now.

Noctis left his room soon after, determined to be of some use to the Prince. First, however, he needed to locate him. He caught a passing staff person and asked about him. Surprisingly, they told him that his Highness had not yet left his chambers that morning, not even for breakfast. Noct's first thought was that he must've been sleeping off their journey too, but... It was too out of character for Ardyn to not be up early, especially if there was something bothering him. He decided to risk checking on his friend, concluding that if he was indeed asleep he'd just leave quietly. He made his way there and opened the door slowly.

Ardyn was sitting at a desk, surrounded by some open books. Whether they were his own writings or not, Noct couldn't tell from where he stood. He was scribbling something in one, however. He must've heard the door open because he turned to look, smiling as he saw the King. Noct abandoned the idea of backing out sneakily and stepped inside.

"Morning." he said.

"Good morning to you, too." the Prince replied, closing his books one by one. It didn't appear like he was specifically trying to hide them however, more like he just wanted to give his guest his full attention. "Did you sleep well?"

"I guess." Noct grumbled. "I mean I woke up which is an achievement, but I feel like I was in a garula stampede." Ardyn chuckled.

"I thought you were used to adventuring." he said.

"I was." Noctis protested. "I mean I am..." he realized he wasn't entirely awake yet as he fumbled with his words. "Shit. That didn't work."

"Interesting." this friend said, not too subtly sneering. "Perhaps we should head off to get some coffee in you, yes?"

"Probably a good idea." he admitted. "What about you though? Feeling rested?"

"Quite." Ardyn replied, getting up and heading for the door.

"Good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The PainTrain is back, but is finally getting in earnest into Healing Territory. Also some healthy expectation subversion, yay~!
> 
> Headcanons:  
> 1\. everything is pain
> 
> that's it idk if there are any other headcanons here but I will fill this up if I think of anything to add or if someone brings stuff up in the comments. Also, wow, so many comments for the previous chapter! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCHHH~! <3 I'll be writing up replies now, so yeah ^^; Sorry for taking longer than usual with that, I really wanted to get my writing back on schedule first instead of writing in the dead of night >.>


End file.
